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The City Council voted Tuesday to send a housing safety ordinance – called for after the deaths of three people in accidental fires over the last year – back to a subcommittee for fine tuning.

The council requested the ordinance after the November deaths of UC Berkeley student Azalea Jusay, 21 and her parents, Francisco and Florita, both 46, in a house fire at 2160 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The following January, UC student Brad Evans, 23, died in a house fire in Oakland.

The council approved the motion to send the ordinance, known as the Rental Housing Safety Program, back to a Housing Advisory Subcommittee by a vote of 5-4 with Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and councilmembers Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington and Linda Maio voting in opposition.

The council requested the subcommittee work with landlords and tenants to clarify landlord fees that will pay for the program, finalize a uniform check list that will be used as a guide during property inspections and clarify issues related to the scope of inspections.

Councilmember Polly Armstrong included in the motion that the fine tuning be expedited.

“If we send this back it should be with the clear understanding that it comes back in one month with the results of the continuing conversations so we can have it in place by the fall,” she said

Spring, who called on the council to approve the ordinance first, then fine tune the details later, said the ordinance had already been worked on long enough.

“We’ve been working on this proposal for a long time,” she said on Wednesday. “It was nearly a year ago we had those deaths on Martin Luther King Jr. Way and staff has been working very hard to get this ordinance in place in a timely manner.”

Interim Housing Director Stephen Barton said the Housing Advisory Subcommittee has worked successfully in recent months with landlords, tenants and the university to develop the ordinance.

The proposed ordinance, which is estimated to cost $450,000 the first year, would create a two-pronged inspection process that would require landlords to inspect their rental units once a year using a uniform check list. Landlords would be looking for fire dangers such as faulty smoke detectors, blocked windows and doorways and combustible materials stored near heaters.

The city would carry out another inspection while the units become vacant. If safety violations were discovered the city would charge the landlord a fee for re-inspection, which would be between $100 and $200.

About 30 landlords attended the meeting to complain that the ordinance is not ready to be approved and still needs to have the rough edges worked out.

Berkeley Property Owners Association member Michael Wilson said there is consensus among landlords and tenants that a housing safety ordinance is needed, but the question remains if this ordinance fair and effective.

“There is not an argument with the goal of safer housing,” Wilson said. “The question is how to create a law that suits both landlords and tenants.”

Wilson said landlords would like to see the fee structure changed to give well-meaning owners an opportunity to repair safety violations before being charged the re-inspection fee. He also said there’s concern about the scope of the city inspections.

“If the city is charging $100 to $200 for re-inspection, there might be a built-in incentive to find violations that are not directly a threat to heath and safety,” he said.

UC Berkeley student and HAC Commissioner Andy Katz said the ordinance was ready to be approved and the one-month delay will likely mean that a large amount of vacancies won’t be inspected before students return for classes in August.

“The ordinance was ready to go,” Katz said. “We could have made changes to the fee structure after it was approved. Now the goal of this program, to get more inspections and create a safer environment for students and Berkeley renters, has been delayed by the City Council.”

The ordinance is scheduled to be back on the council’s agenda on July 24.

2712 Telegraph Ave. A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through August 17. $8 - $35 sliding scale per session 548-8283 x534 or x522

City Commons Club,

Luncheon and Speaker

11:45 a.m.

Berkeley City Club

2315 Durant Ave.

This week featuring Edward Fox on “Regional Development Plans of The Wilderness Society.” Come early for social hour. Lunch at 11:45 for $11-$12.25. Come at 12:30 to hear the speaker only for $1, students free. Reservations required for three or more.

848-3533

Saturday, June 16

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 548-3333

Berkeley Arts Festival

Music Circus

1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Shattuck Ave. between University Ave. and Channing Way

Free bus fare to and from the event offered by AC Transit. 665-9496. Free.

Botanical Garden Spring Party

3 - 6 p.m.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

Celebrating the completion of the new Arid House and the renovation of the Southern African area. Food, wine and jazz. Fundraiser for the Garden, $25 per person.

643-2755

Puppet Shows on Cultural and Medical Differences

1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Hall of Health

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level)

Two shows for kids of all ages and their families promote acceptance and understanding of cultural and medical differences. Free.

549-1564

Poets’ Corner

1:30 - 4 p.m.

Shattuck and Kittredge

Ten poets will read on the downtown street corner as a kick-off event for the two-week Berkeley Arts Festival.

649-3929

Energy Crisis

2 p.m.

6501 Telegraph Avenue

Oakland

“Why They Can’t Keep the Lights On and What We Can Do About It.” Graham Brownstein and other panalists provide information on the corporate rip-off sometimes referred to as the “energy crisis.”

Bus and walk to: The Crucuble, workshop of arts and the industry; Bay Area Center for the Consolidated Arts; and the Juneteenth Celebration, annual street fair of African-American Roots with music, dance and food. 486-0411

The Discord Aggregate

Intersection

7 p.m.

Gathering of local artists, poets, musicians, composers and others. Non-profit group meets every three to four weeks. This week, Tasmanian photographer Tony Ryan will present his work. For location and other information e-mail alemap@discord-aggregate.com

Music and Meditation

8 - 9 p.m.

The Heart-Road Traveller

1828 Euclid Ave.

Group mediation through instrumental music and devotional songs, led by Lucian Balmer and Baoul Scavullo. Free.

496-3468

Buddhist Mantra/Healing

6 p.m.

Tibetan Nyingma Institute

1815 Highland Place

Bob Byrne on “Mantra and Healing,” a deep and personal kind of healing. Free.

843-6812

— compiled by

Sabrina Forkish and Guy Poole

Monday, June 18

Raging Grannies Meeting

7 p.m.

1924 Cedar Fellowship Hall

UC Berkeley

East Bay/San Francisco Raging Grannies organizing meeting. Celebrate life with laughter and song.

The Daily Planet received the following letter addressed to the judge presiding over the Lakireddy Bali Reddy case. Reddy has been found guilty of sex, tax and immigration offenses. He is to be sentenced Tuesday.

Dear Judge Armstrong:

I am writing to implore you to ignore the prosecutors’ recommendation that Lakireddy Bali Reddy receive the outrageously minimal sentence of only 5 to 6.5 years in prison, and that he pay only $2 million in restitution to three surviving victims and the parents of the dead girl for his many heinous crimes.

I consider it a disgrace that Reddy was permitted to get away with only pleading guilty to “two counts of transporting minors for illegal sexual activity, one count of conspiring to commit immigration fraud and one of filing a false tax return”!

Even the logic of pleading guilty to two counts of transporting minors for so-called illegal sexual activity, yet paying restitution to three surviving victims and the parents of a fourth victim who died, makes no sense.

The recommended sentence is scandalous - a mere rap on the knuckles for Reddy - whose property holdings alone are worth more than $50 million. It is ludicrous and completely unjust that Reddy could get the same 5-year sentence recommended for Venkateswara Vemireddy for being solicited by Reddy for posing as the two sisters’ father to enable their illegal entry into the United States. This is an example of a flagrantly unjust double standard of justice - one for the rich and powerful and another for everyone else.

I understand that 38 years is the maximum prison sentence permitted for the crimes to which Reddy pleaded guilty. I beg you to exercise your prerogative to sentence Reddy on June 19, 2001, to this maximum number of years of incarceration. Even if you do so, Reddy will still not have been held accountable for the rape of young girls and the death of Chanti because he hasn’t been prosecuted for these crimes. In short, Reddy has been permitted by the legal system to get away with the rape of at least 15 minors (the number cited in the press in the context of the civil case that will be occurring in the future), and possibly with the murder of one of them!

Following is a summary of my views of Reddy and his crimes:

• Reddy is a slave trader and trafficker of impoverished girls from India for so-called “illegal sexual activity” (i.e., rape) and cheap or unpaid labor.

• Reddy is a practicing pedophile and a serial rapist of young women and underage girls in Berkeley for almost 15 years, and additional years in India.

• Reddy is guilty of negligent homicide for not repairing the gas leak in one of his apartments where he had housed three of his sex slaves, causing the death of one and the severe carbon monoxide poisoning of another.

Finally, you should be aware that the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution Dec. 19, 2000 supporting Women Against Sexual Slavery’s boycott of Reddy’s Pasand restaurant in downtown Berkeley, as well as resolving:

“that the Council of the City of Berkeley supports strong sentencing for cases involving trafficking of women and children due to the serious human rights violations and unethical, inhumane treatment toward women and children.”

Please bear in mind this resolution by the elected representatives of Berkeley - including the mayor - as well as my views when you decide on Reddy’s sentence .

Diana E. H. Russell, Ph.D.

Member of Women Against Sexual Slavery

Berkeley

Bush has some good news for all of us

Editor:

We haven’t had much good economic news in California recently, which is why it was particularly gratifying to watch President George W. Bush take pen in hand and affix his signature to a $1.35 trillion dollar tax cut.

Only 125 days into office and the President has pushed through a bipartisan tax cut that slashes taxes across the board for every single tax paying American. That kind of all-inclusive tax cut hasn’t taken place since Ronald Reagan provided similar relief to the taxpayers.

President Bush told us during the campaign that he was going to lower our taxes, and now he has. He also told us he was going to change the tone in Washington, and he is doing that as well.

The president signed this tax cut flanked by both Republicans and Democrats providing a model for bipartisan government that is void of mean spirited politics.

The President honed his approach to open honest bipartisan politics as the successful governor of a large state, Texas. He demonstrated that an effective chief executive could extend a hand across the aisle and forge solutions for the good of the citizens.

The President gave credit for this tax relief bill to both Republicans and Democrats.

How refreshing to have a President who isn’t worried about who gets the credit, but is more interested in real results.

Our governor, Gray Davis, could take a few lessons from President Bush.

Davis’ response to our state’s energy crisis as been to try to assign blame instead of implementing solutions.

Instead of marshalling the resources of his office toward solving the energy supply shortage by using his emergency powers to expedite the construction of power plants; Davis is using taxpayer dollars to hire the “spin doctors” who handled the Whitewater and Lewinsky

scandals in the Clinton White House. This commitment to place politics above governing threatens California’s future.

The great irony for Davis is that as he points his blaming finger at others an examination of the facts turns the wagging finger back at the Governor himself.

Last month, Davis appeared on ABC’s “This Week” and claimed that the state’s utilities could have secured long-term power contracts last year at low prices, but they refused to do so.

Davis is either misleading the public or he does not grasp reality.

The reality is, both of the major utilities had asked the Public Utilities Commission for the ability to secure long-term contracts and avert the current crisis. The chairwoman of the PUC, a former Clinton White House lawyer assigned to scandal control and appointed by Davis, blocked such

contracts. Furthermore, Davis could have exercised his authority to allow those contracts and he refused to do so.

If Gray Davis had shown even the smallest amount of decisive leadership last year, we likely wouldn’t be facing a summer of blackouts and state budget deficits.

Now, the man who created this mess is obsessed with blaming President Bush. Shameful.

Meanwhile, as gasoline prices skyrocket, Davis has proposed a state budget that raises the sales tax on goods, including fuel, by a quarter cent.

Davis is turning into the worst kind of politician. He’s obsessed with his own political fortunes. He’s afraid to make decisions that aren’t guided by pollsters. The net results have been an electrical crisis, escalating electricity rates and now higher taxes.

George Bush’s tax rebate will arrive just in time for Californians to pay for the higher costs of living that Gray Davis is imposing upon us. The Bush dividend will unfortunately have to be a down payment on for your Davis tax!

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” through May 2002. An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery.” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history. “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu

“More Matters of Life and Death” June 15 - 17, 8 p.m. The newest cycle of this series, “Iris, Blue, Each Spring,” tackles the joys and sorrows of growing older and is set to “Six Japanese Songs” by Margaret Garwood. Presented by The Ruch Botchan Dance Company in concert with The Mirage Ensemble. $12 - $15 Western Sky Studio 2525 Eighth St. 848-4878

“Dance Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity” June 16, 8 p.m. and June 17, 2 p.m. The annual repertory concert for the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance features over 100 performers of dance and music from the South Pacific, India, Africa and the Middle East. $5 - $15 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

Kalanjali in Concert June 22, 7 p.m. Kalanjali concludes its celebration of its 25th year in Berkeley with a special recital. Experienced dancers and young students, with guests from India including dancer K. P. Yesoda and the musicians of Bharatakalanjali. $6 - $8 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

“The Laramie Project” Through July 8: Weds. 7 p.m., Tues. and Thur. -Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Written by Moises Kaufmen and members of Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Moises Kaufman. Moises Kaufman and Tectonic members traveled to Laramie, Wyo., after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepherd. The play is about the community and the impact Shepherd’s death had on its members. $10 - $50. The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

“Kid Kaleidoscope and the Puppet Players” June 24: 2 p.m., Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. The Puppet Players are a multi-media musical theatre group. Their shows are masterfully produced to thrill people of all ages with handmadesets and puppets. Adults $10, Children $5, 2640 College 867-7199

“Romeo and Juliet” June 14 - July 14, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m. Set in early 1930’s just before the rise of Hitler in the Kit Kat Klub, Juliet is torn between ties to the Nazi party and Romeo’s Jewish heritage. $8 - $10. La Val’s Subterranean Theater 1834 Euclid 234-6046

“A Life In the Theatre” Opens June 14, runs through July 15. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. David Mamet play about the lives of two actors, considered a metaphor for life itself. Directed by Nancy Carlin. $30-$35. $26 preview nights. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant 843-4822

Films

Berkeley Film Festival, June 23, 1 p.m. Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery. Presnetation of Six films: The Good War, and Those Who Refused to Fight it (Judith Ehrlich and Rick Tejada Flores), Just Crazy About Horses (Tim Lovejoy and Joe Wemple), Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar (L. John Harris and Bill Hayes), In Between the Notes (William Farley and Sandra Sharpe) and KPFA On The Air (Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood). 2220 Shattuck 486-0411

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts and Paintings. Through Aug. 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541

The Berkeley High crew varsity four-man boat finished fifth at the U.S. Rowing Youth Invitational Championships in Cincinnati last weekend, the school’s first appearance at the national competition.

Although the team entered both the two- and four-man events in Cincinnati, the overlapping members decided to concentrate on the four-man, according to Mick Renner, the organization president.

“It was apparent that it was impossible to do well in both events,” Renner said. “The two rowers (sophomore Jordan Bice and junior Yoshi Katsuura) had to make a decision on their own out on the water. They decided to reserve their strength for the four-man boat.”

The members of the four-man had to make a big adjustment in the final event of their season. Their regular boat has the coxswain positioned to the rear. But they were unable to take their own boat, and the boat they used at the nationals had Renner in the front, unable to see his rowers.

The change nearly proved disastrous in the first heat, as Berkeley took an early lead but steered into a lane marker and struggled to the finish line. But by the second heat, they had made their adjustments and came from behind to finish in second to qualify for the finals.

“It was hard getting used to a new boat and a new scenario, but it worked out well,” said Matt Renner, a senior who will be on the Cal crew team next year along with Davidson. “I think I actually prefer it now.”

The ’Jackets finished the final race fifth out of six competitors.

“I figured they’d all be fast boats since it was the national championships, but I had a feeling we’d do well,” said Matt Renner, a senior. “This is definitely the high point of my crew career.”

Plastered on the windows of the old and empty futon shop on University Avenue – next to the old and empty UC Theatre – are posters touting the draft plan of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

Inside the UC Theatre, all’s dark and quiet.

But in the old hotel next door, above the futon shop, there’s furious activity. Here, a revolution, of sorts, is in progress. The total transformation of the Stark Hotel, a single room occupancy residence vacant since 1987, is being sawed, sanded and riveted into high-end studio apartments, complete with hardwood floors, modern appliances and – having opened up the attic – spiral staircases mounting to sleeping lofts.

The developers have shored up the brick walls, but haven’t covered them up. And there’s natural light that streams through skylights in each studio and along the hallways.

Developers Igal Sarafaty and Yaval Bobrovitch are well on their way to completing the apartments, which they hope to have rented by next fall, when UC Berkeley students return to class. The futon shop and the former barbershop below are also getting a thorough facelift and retrofit.

The second part of the project, however, remains illusive. The transformation of the UC Theatre is a dream in progress.

“It’s a piece of Berkeley culture,” Bobrovitch said of the theater, whose doors closed at the end of March.

Bobrovitch and Sarafaty have been talking to Gary Myers, who opened the UC Theatre in 1976 and left the operation four years ago, about how best to reuse the old 1,300-seat elephant.

Some people – one who even posted an essay on the box office of the old theater – say the reason for the closure of the theater is that Myers had stopped programming the films. But Myers says the answer is far more complex.

The audience has changed, he said. People are no longer willing to come out for the great range of films as they once did.

“The audience is less adventurous,” Myers said. “We have to be very creative.”

People who once went to the movies three or more times a week, now stay home and watch videos or surf the Net. And the film companies have not kept the old classics in good condition. People can get better copies for home viewing, Myers said.

So a revitalized UC Theatre would have to embody a completely new concept. Myers envisions the structure broken up into three parts: one would be a large theater of 600 seats and the other two would be smaller, at 150 seats each.

Films would be just part of the new operation. There would also be live performances – music and theater. There would be lectures. And, during the day, the space might be used as a conference center, with satellite conferencing facilities available.

Myers envisions an operation that would be open every day of the year and says that the variety of events scheduled there would create a “cross fertilization,” with the movie-going crowd trying out live music, for example.

“We want to explore how to make the UC Theatre viable again,” he said.

And the City Council may lend a hand.

As part of its 2001-2002 budget discussions, the council will be considering funding a $40,000 feasibility study Myers would carry out for re-using the old theater.

Sarafaty and Bobrovitch have already done the massive job of retrofitting the theater for earthquake protection. The $600,000 project includes the installation of steel beams to shore up the 60-foot high theater walls. Other beams, at further expense, stretch between the apartments and the theater to stabilize the apartments and the shops below.

If the transformation of the theater doesn’t work, the developers will investigate other uses for the gaping structure – it could be commercial space or more housing, they said.

Until a re-use plan is in place, the dust will continue to settle on the windows that once displayed coming attractions and passersby will read the missives posted as good-byes to the theater.

While today, they walk quickly by the theater and past the empty futon shop with promises of revolution plastered to the windows, the stores and apartments above will most certainly see their transformation well before a re-use plan is written for the old theater.

With just the final baseball points to be added, Cal appears headed toward its highest finish ever in the Sears Directors’ Cup standings.

In the latest rankings announced Tuesday, the Bears moved up to 11th place. Once baseball points are added after the College World Series next week, Cal could easily find itself in the Top 10 at end of the year.

The Sears Cup measures a school’s overall level of success based on performances of teams in 20 selected sports.

However, Cal’s finish could have been even higher except that four teams that finished among the top four in the nation did not contribute to the standings. Both rugby and men’s crew defended their national titles, but neither sport competes under the NCAA umbrella. In addition, men’s and women’s water polo were ranked fourth in the final polls, but the Bears were not among the four teams invited to the NCAA championships, and thus received no Sears Cup points.

School officials announced Monday that Berkeley High Vice Principal Michele Patterson will be the new principal of Willard Middle School next year, replacing retiring Principal Gail Hojo.

Patterson said Wednesday that she was “ecstatic” with her appointment to Willard. She’s spent much of the week visiting the school, getting to know its staff and doing a little eavesdropping on its students.

“It’s kind of fun because they don’t know who I am,” she said.

Patterson came to Berkeley High from southern California in January 1999 to help oversee the creation of Village 9, a “school within a school” intended to ease the transition into high school for Berkeley High freshman.

Patterson’s background is in middle schools, however, and she came to Berkeley with the understanding that she would have an opportunity to move back into middle schools should an administrative position open up.

Before she got to Berkeley High, Patterson, 38, had accumulated 14 years of experience in middle schools, working as an English and history teacher and then as an administrator at the Fontana Unified School District in San Bernardino County.

She said she prefers working in middle schools because, more than just teaching required subjects, middle school teachers must often play a critical role in students’ emotional development.

“Middle school students are at the stage in their lives where they’re really struggling with who they are,” Patterson said. She said middle school teachers must work closely together, creating a family-like environment where students will feel welcome and can get the attention they need.

“(Middle school) students so badly need something to identify with,” Patterson added. If they don’t feel a sense of belonging in the middle school community, it becomes an obstacle to their academic and social development, she said.

Patterson said her top priorities at Willard will be student safety, student achievement and staff morale.

Safety and morale have been issues of particular concern at Willard, particularly after an incident earlier this year where seven Willard boys were arrested in connection with the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl, according to a number of people close to the campus.

“That was tough to go through,” said Willard Vice Principal Gene Nakamura. “When you get battered by the news and the media it’s pretty tough, because it’s a slap at your confidence.”

Nakamura, who was named the new head of the district’s Student Services Offices Monday and will be leaving Willard after 22 years as a teacher and administrator at the school, said another challenge for Patterson will be dealing with chronic understaffing at the school.

“What’s happening in the school district is they’re taking positions away and then the people who are left are expected to pick it up,” Nakamura said.

Nakamura said he himself has taken on the work load of the school’s Resource Specialist, who moved up to the district’s central office in the middle of the year and was not replaced.

Even before Willard lost one of its three on-campus safety personnel in the most recent round of school district budget cuts, the school had gone a year and a half without the benefit of a school resource officer from the Berkeley police department, Nakamura added. (Both Longfellow and King middle schools have Resource Officers assigned to them.)

The absence of the officer “makes a big difference,” Nakamura said, “not only in prevention (of violence) but also in counseling.”

Unlike the high school, Willard has no counseling staff on campus to help students work through emotional problems, a fact Patterson said the school district may need to rethink in the years ahead.

As for the other staff shortages, Patterson said: “I think the whole district is feeling the cuts.”

Overworked or not, Berkeley PTA Council President Mark Coplan, whose son will enter Willard in the fall, said Patterson should move to make the school more responsive to the needs of parents and others in the community. Coplan said he himself has experienced the frustration of having repeated calls to the school go unanswered, a complaint echoed by other Willard parents this year.

“(Patterson) could really move to change the image (of Willard) by being responsive and available to the community,” Coplan said.

Patterson said her experience working at Berkeley High for the last 18 months puts her in a unique position to continue working on the often problematic transition students experience moving from middle school to high school.

“Now I completely understand where I’m sending my Willard eighth graders” and how they need to be prepared, Patterson said.

With Village 9, the school within the school at Berkeley High, Patterson helped implement a number of programs to help eighth graders become successful ninth graders. To give middle schoolers and their parents a better idea of what to expect at Berkeley High, Village 9 orchestrated “Eighth grade visitations” to the school and “parent information nights” at the middle schools.

Once at Berkeley High, Village 9 provides freshman an array of tutoring, mentoring, peer support and after-school programs to give them added social, emotional and academic support.

But the success of these efforts, said Patterson, hinges on the high school being able to identify students at risk and hook them up with the support services they need from their very first day on campus. To often, Patterson said, the poor flow of information between the high school and middle schools impedes this process.

“We need very close communication (between middle schools and the high school),” Patterson said. “We can make that transition much smoother.”

Junior Walter Chun has been named an All-America Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Chun, who served as co-captain of the Bears this past season, is majoring in business administration at Cal. During the just-completed season, he averaged 74.1 strokes per round. Chun's best finish was a tie for ninth at the Cleveland Golf Classic.

All-America Scholars are recognized for their performances athletically and scholastically. To qualify for the honor, student-athletes must be a junior or senior academically, maintain a minimum grade-point average, compete in at least 75 percent of his team's varsity competitive rounds, and maintain a minimum stroke average.

As a team, the Bears advanced to the NCAA Western Regionals for the fifth consecutive season.

UC Berkeley graduate, Adam Varat, has been selected from over 100 students to participate in the 21st annual EDAW Summer Student Program.

Varat will be participating as an intern in the redevelopment of the Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colo., at one time the fifth busiest airport in the United States, and the largest urban redevelopment project in the country. The airport will be converted into a thriving community built on smart growth and environmentally sustainable principles, said Sandy D’Elia, Principal and Director of Development of EDAW, San Francisco.

Varat is currently a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The internship was created and sponsored by EDAW, a San Francisco based consulting firm in environmental planning, landscape architecture, urban design and economic development.

The Pac-10 Conference has accepted the recommendations of a Cal internal investigation into violations involving the school’s football program and will take away four scholarships over the next two years, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Wide recievers Michael Ainsworth and Ronnie Davenport were given academic credit for a class they did not complete in the spring semester of 1999, violations uncovered last fall. Both athletes have since left school.

The school pre-empted any NCAA investigation by conducting its own five-month investigation into the allegations, making its recommendation to the conference in February. The school has a self-imposed two-year probation period, and was given a public reprimand by the Pac-10.

Cal’s investigation turned up no additional wrongdoing, saying, “The core violations are limited to one faculty member, two student-athletes and one academic semester.” The investigation found no evidence of unethical conduct by any coach or other member of Cal’s athletic program staff.

SAN FRANCISCO — In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court said it’s illegal to sell or possess marijuana for medical use, the decision appears to be having little effect in the eight states with medical marijuana laws.

“I dispense a couple pounds a month,” said Jim Green, operator of the Market Street Club, where business has thrived even after the May 14 ruling. “All of my clients have a legitimate and compelling need.”

Those states have done little to change since the Supreme Court ruled federal law prohibits people from dispensing marijuana to the ill. Some states have even moved to expand marijuana laws despite the ruling.

State prosecutors say it’s up to federal authorities, not them, to enforce the court’s decision.

“If the feds want to prosecute these people, they can,” said Norm Vroman, the district attorney in Northern California’s Mendocino County, where the sheriff issues medical marijuana licenses to residents with a doctor’s recommendation, or to people who grow the marijuana for them.

In Maine, “state prosecutors aren’t too involved with enforcing the federal law,” said state attorney general spokesman Chuck Dow.

In response to the high court’s decision, however, Maine lawmakers shelved an effort to supply marijuana to the ill.

The Bush administration, which inherited the medical marijuana fight from President Clinton, has taken no public action to enforce the ruling and has been silent about its next move.

“There’s generally no comment about what the government will do in the future in any context,” said Mark T. Quinlivan, the Justice Department’s lead attorney in the Supreme Court case.

Leslie Baker, head of the U.S. attorney’s Portland, Ore., drug-enforcement unit, said last week that U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft’s office has not given her guidance on how to respond to the ruling. Oregon allows “caregivers” to grow and dispense marijuana for patients who have a doctor’s recommendation.

Baker declined to say what federal authorities may do in the state.

Meanwhile, Nevada lawmakers, abiding by a voter referendum, on June 4 adopted a medical marijuana measure that Gov. Kenny Guinn said he would sign.

In California, the nation’s first state to approve medical marijuana in 1996, the Senate approved legislation June 6 legalizing marijuana cooperatives for the sick.

Three days earlier, Colorado expanded its medical marijuana law, complying with a state voter initiative that requires the state to license medical marijuana users. That was despite the opposition of Gov. Bill Owens and the state’s attorney general, who urged federal authorities to prosecute anybody who sells, distributes or grows medical marijuana, even if they qualify for the state program.

At the Market Street Club in California, the marijuana goes to patients such as Grant Magner, 49, of Novato, who says it reduces nausea and headaches resulting from AIDS and gives him enough of an appetite to eat.

“It gives me a slight feeling of wellness. I can not smoke marijuana, and watch my body waste away,” he said.

The absence of federal action has led to speculation about the Bush administration’s strategy.

“I think they are biding their time and are being very careful for which organizations or persons they are going to target first after this U.S. Supreme Court decision because that is what is going to get all of the media attention,” said Tim Lynch, the Cato Institute director of criminal justice studies.

The Justice Department may take no action in hopes that the decision will scare medical marijuana providers out of business, said Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The public silence also may reflect that the White House has more important issues to handle.

“That is not what they’re talking about in the Capitol and the corridors of the White House,” said presidential analyst Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution.

Any federal crackdown may open a Pandora’s box of new legal questions, said Robert Raich, the lawyer for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative.

Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Oakland club could not defend its actions against federal drug laws by declaring it was dispensing marijuana to the medically needy.

But the justices said they addressed only the issue of a so-called “medical necessity defense” being at odds with a 1970 federal law that marijuana, like heroin and LSD, has no medical benefits and cannot be dispensed or prescribed by doctors.

Important constitutional questions remain, such as Congress’ ability to interfere with intrastate commerce, the right of states to experiment with their own laws and whether Americans have a fundamental right to marijuana as an avenue to be free of pain. Justice Thomas wrote that the court would not decide those “underlying constitutional issues today.”

SINCE THE RULING

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled May 14 that dispensing or possessing marijuana for medical use is illegal. Here’s what has happened since in the states that have medical marijuana laws in effect or pending:

Arizona: Attorney general’s spokeswoman Pati Urias said doctors, even before the high court’s ruling, were not recommending marijuana as the state law required for the infirm to obtain medical marijuana. Activists estimate that several hundred people are using marijuana for medical purposes.

California: Senate approved a sweeping bill that would implement a statewide registry of medical marijuana patients, bar state prosecution of doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients and allow so-called caregivers to the infirm to cultivate marijuana cooperatively for medical purposes.

Colorado: Expanded its medical marijuana law, complying with a state voter initiative that requires the state to issue license medical marijuana users. Governor and state attorney general oppose the expansion, urging federal authorities to prosecute anybody who sells, distributes or grows marijuana, even if they qualify under the state program. The local acting U.S. Attorney said it’s up to local law enforcement to prosecute medical pot cases.

Hawaii: Governor said he’ll lobby for federal legislation to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes nationwide.

Maine: Lawmakers scrapped a pilot project in which the state would dispense medical marijuana.

Nevada: State lawmakers, abiding by a voter referendum, approved a medical marijuana law, which governor said he would sign. Lawmakers also relaxed penalties for possessing small amounts of non-medical marijuana.

Oregon: Attorney general cautioned that “Oregonians engaged in the manufacture and distribution or who are in possession of medical marijuana may be subject to federal criminal prosecution.” But he added that federal prosecution was unlikely.

VACAVILLE — Smoke from a fire near Interstate 505 caused two multiple-car accidents, closed the highway to traffic and forced the evacuation of a mobile home park in northern Solano County Wednesday.

Black smoke from the blaze limited visibility, contributing to the 13-car and eight-car pileups. Several people suffered minor injuries in the crashes, said California Highway Patrol Supervisor Kin Ho.

Firefighters battled windy conditions along with the flames, but the fire was controlled Wednesday night, said a spokeswoman from the Solano County Dispatch Center.

“The key point is that these winds cause fires to move,” said Vacaville Fire Department battalion chief Gerald Skinner.

The fire began at about 1:30 p.m. in a grove of eucalyptus trees north of Allendale in an area called Gandy Dancer, Ho said. The fire then spread to several other areas.

The fire divided into 25 different blazes, scorching a total of 200 to 300 acres, but no structures were threatened, the dispatch spokeswoman said.

CHP officials closed I-505 between Interstate 80 and the town of Winters.

Both lanes of traffic on I-80 north of Vacaville were moved to eastbound lanes. The fire extended to the factory stores area of Orange Drive near the Vacaville city limits.

SACRAMENTO — In May, Gov. Gray Davis announced a plan to give Californians detailed warnings of rolling blackouts to help businesses and residents plan for outages.

But a draft of the plan, obtained by The Associated Press, has changed the proposed one-hour “blackout warning” to a “probability forecast,” which one utility official called a “vague warning that’s wrong more often than it’s right.”

The one-hour notice is expected to be wrong two-thirds of the time, because the Independent System Operator will continue to look for power to keep the lights on, said several people who participated in meetings to plan the blackout notifications.

Under Davis’ plan, the ISO, manager of the state’s power grid, will also issue a 48-hour rolling blackout forecast and the 24-hour location notification.

Peter Navarro, an economist with University of California, Irvine who works on energy issues, called the one-hour blackout notice “a very blunt instrument.”

“It’s going to be like the typical California forecast – sunny, hot and dry with a chance of rolling blackouts,” Navarro said. “How do you prepare for that?”

The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services coordinated the plan to implement Davis’ order by consulting private and municipal utilities, the ISO and the Public Utilities Commission. The plan will be presented to Davis by Friday.

Even after the issuing the 60-minute blackout notice, the state will keep looking for last-minute power, said ISO spokeswoman Stephanie McCorkle. “The public knows the ISO doesn’t have a crystal ball, but it can provide information to help them make critical decisions.”

A utility official, who participated in the calls and who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the one-hour blackout probability forecast “doesn’t come anywhere close to what’s been promised to the public.

“Instead of a real one-hour notice of an outage that people can rely on and make plans for, they’re just going to get another vague warning that’s going to be wrong far more often than it’s right,” the executive said. The utilities will make the biggest differences in handling blackouts, said Steve Conroy, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, which participated in one of the conference calls.

“There is more advance notice from the utilities to our customers,” Conroy said.

Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. have joined Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in assigning customers a “block number” so they will know what neighborhood are next to be hit by a blackout.

“The newest element that’s required is to make geographic information available to the public. It was already available to public safety offices,” said John Nelson, spokesman for PG&E.

Blackout forecasts, Conroy said, are “very much like a weather forecast” and subject to change. McCorkle said forecasts will also encourage power conservation and further lessen the chance of blackouts.

Eric Lamoureux, an emergency services spokesman, said the plan isn’t intended to predict a blackout but give a sense of when they’re likely.

Utility customers don’t need a guarantee, just a warning that blackouts could occur, said Michael Shames, executive director of Utility Consumers’ Action Network.

“The objective here is to allow customers to prepare for the eventuality of blackouts,” he said. “The people will not rebel if the lights stay on. What we do need is more than 30 minutes notice.”

Jennifer Ng, the owner of Moonlight Cleaners in Elk Grove, said she’d welcome two days’ notice for blackout. It took her more than a week to catch up on work that a couple hours of blackouts halted at the dry cleaners, she said.

“It affects businesses more than people think,” Ng said. “If I had more warning, I would be able to stay late the night before or bring in more people.”

To really give a true blackout warning, Shames said, the ISO must “draw the line” and stop shopping for electricity to keep the lights on.

Shames and Navarro have called for a price ceiling for last-minute power buys and a willingness to suffer blackouts in prices don’t come down. The Legislature is now considering a bill to allow state power buyers to stop shopping for power.

SACRAMENTO — A federal judge is threatening to block the cutting of trees in three Northern California national forests as part of a fire prevention program, unless the U.S. Forest Service submits a better plan addressing regrowth and potential harmful effects.

The agency’s current impact statement fails to properly account for maintaining 320,000 acres of fire breaks in the Sierra Nevada forests and the possible use of herbicides that could harm the environment, ruled U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton.

He ordered the Forest Service to offer a revised environmental impact statement for public comment within four months, or stop the project.

“The Forest Service is radically altering vegetation on 320,000 acres of forest without knowing what the ultimate result is going to be,” said Patty Clary, director of Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.

CATS sued the Forest Service for not exploring how it would control the regrowth of brush and grasses in the fire breaks.

The plan was a product of controversial 1998 federal legislation sought by an unusual coalition of loggers, environmentalists and others that became known as the Quincy Library Group for their meeting place.

The Quincy Act requires construction of a network of fire lines by removing trees and shrubs in strips a quarter- to half-mile wide and several miles long on 40,000 to 60,000 acres each year for five years. The network will ultimately cover one-quarter of the land in the Plumas and Lassen national forests and the Sierraville District of the Tahoe National Forest.

Clary said maintaining those breaks could involve the use of herbicides, but the consequences of such use were not explored. Forest Service attorneys argued no maintenance would be needed for 10 years, beyond the life of the project, but CATS disagrees, saying grass and other brush could grow back within two to five years.

Karlton ruled Tuesday that the Forest Service provided no evidence to back its assumption or dispute concerns presented by a CATS expert.

Sales of the Insight two-door coupe last month were up 138 percent compared to May 2000. The sale of 903 Insights last month also broke the previous single-month record of 573, set in April.

Pat Bennett, a 63-year-old retiree in Baton Rouge, La., was intrigued by the car’s compact shape and handling, along with its $12 monthly fuel bill.

“I don’t fill up but maybe once a month,” she said.

“To be honest, I don’t know what (the price of fuel) is right now because I haven’t been to the service station.” Honda executives and auto industry experts said buyers are interested in the Insight’s fuel efficiency – pitched by Honda as reaching up to 68 mpg on the highway – and sporty look and feel.

And for the technologically advanced Palm Pilot-carrying crowd, owning a cutting-edge vehicle also is a draw.

“With all the attention rising gas prices have received there has almost been as much attention on the Insight,” said Art Garner, a Honda spokesman.

The average retail price of gasoline in a national survey Friday was $1.73 per gallon, down 3.48 cents from its May 18 price.

San Francisco had an average price of $2.02 per gallon Friday.

Dennis Virag, president of the Automotive Consulting Group Inc. in Ann Arbor, Mich., said he recently had noticed an increase in the number of Honda Insights on the road in his state.

“I think it takes some time for (consumers) to become familiar with it and for the market to adapt, and certainly the increase in fuel costs is a major contributor” to the rise in sales.

The Insight hit the market in December 1999, and it has taken awhile for both consumers and dealers to become familiar with it, Virag said.

Drivers also had to learn about the vehicle’s hybrid technology, which doesn’t require it be plugged in to a charging station like the General Motors electric vehicle.

Hybrids combine an electric motor with a gasoline engine to produce better mileage and less pollution.

Bennett said she has been getting looks everywhere she goes since buying the vehicle in November for $17,900, $3,000 below its sticker price.

In fact, she can’t leave the house without everyone in town knowing where she goes, Bennett said.

“A lot of men were interested because it looks real sporty,” she said.

“There was a time when I would attract that kind of attention myself – now it’s my vehicle.”

The Insight is one of two such vehicles currently available. Toyota sells a four-seat hybrid called the Prius that boasts 45 mpg on the highway. The Prius, which started selling overseas in 1997, went on sale in the United States in July 2000. Toyota sold 872 models in April 2001 and 1,126 in May.

Other gas-electric vehicles are in the works, including hybrid versions of the Honda Civic, the Chevrolet Suburban and the Ford Escape.

Hybrid vehicles could receive a boost from Washington, D.C., if a proposal to give tax credits for the purchase of gas-electric vehicles is approved. President Bush proposed up to $10 billion in tax breaks over 10 years to boost energy supplies, conservation and alternatives.

SAN DIEGO — The online music service Mp3.com added the 1 millionth song to its library this week and introduced a new premium service that allows subscribers to transfer songs to a portable device and burn compact discs from their own music collection.

The company said the milestone track was the song “So Long,” by the band “Lapdog,” which consists of former members of the alternative rock band “Toad the Wet Sprocket.”

Mp3.com allows musicians to post digital tracks on the site and pays some musicians when their tracks are downloaded over the Internet.

The company also runs a music locker service, which allows people to store digital copies of music they either purchase from a participating retailer or prove they already own by briefly inserting a copy into their computer’s disc drive.

This week, the company introduced its “Premium Listener Service,” which allows listeners to compile a library of clips from their own music collection or from MP3.com’s collection of songs. The software allows subscribers to play their music on their computer or transfer tracks to a portable MP3 player.

The software also allows subscribers to burn music to a CD.

The PLuS Express package costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. The software can be downloaded for a 14-day trial.

MP3.com recently agreed to be acquired by Vivendi Universal in a $372 million cash-and-stock deal. Vivendi hopes to use MP3.com’s technology as the backbone of a new music licensing service, called pressplay, it recently formed with its partner, Sony Music.

JERUSALEM — After grudgingly accepting CIA chief George Tenet’s truce deal, Israelis and Palestinians argued Wednesday over who should make the first move, but agreed the next 48 hours would be a crucial test period.

Each side quickly cast doubt on the other’s good faith, undercutting hopes that the deal would hold. In nearly nine months of fighting, several cease-fire efforts collapsed, including one personally brokered by then-President Clinton.

In the first killing since the cease-fire agreement was announced early Wednesday, a Palestinian was killed and three wounded in the West Bank several hours later when gunmen opened fire on their truck from an oncoming car, police said. Israeli media said their reporters received messages claiming that the attack was carried out by a Jewish group seeking revenge for Palestinian attacks.

In a statement, the leadership of Jewish settlers “strongly condemned” the shooting.

President Bush also played down expectations, saying the emerging agreement was just a first step. “It’s still a fragile situation there,” Bush said during a stop in Belgium on the second day of a European tour.

Israel said it considered the cease-fire as having begun at 3 p.m. Several hours later, a mortar shell fell on the Jewish settlement of Atzmona in the Gaza Strip, but there were no reports of injury.

Over the past week, gunbattles and clashes that had raged for months in the West Bank and Gaza have waned. Intermittent shootings, however, have persisted. Two Israelis were wounded in West Bank shootings Wednesday morning.

Palestinian officials said also that two children were wounded in Gaza by Israeli bullets, despite the truce agreement.

Tenet’s meeting in Tel Aviv was aimed at working out the details of implementing the truce. His mediation has been the highest-profile Mideast effort yet by the Bush administration.

Israel’s foreign minister, Shimon Peres, praised the U.S. mediation after meeting Secretary of State Colin Powell in Brussels on Wednesday, saying it had helped avert “a bath of blood, of hatred. Now we have to judge the future by events.”

The Palestinians complained after the three-hour meeting that Israel did not present a timetable for easing its crippling security closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and for withdrawing troops from the edges of Palestinian towns, two key provisions in Tenet’s document.

“The Israelis are not dealing with the Tenet proposal seriously,” the Palestinian security chief in the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub, told The Associated Press.

Palestinian officials said they expected Israel to start easing the closure within the next two days.

Israel said it would only take steps after it sees a truce having taking hold, with officials saying the start of the cease-fire ushered in a 48-hour test period.

“If and when we see a cease-fire on the ground, we will start implementing our side of the deal,” said Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner. “For the time being, we have not seen a cease-fire.”

Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer instructed the military to begin implementing the accord “in parallel with a Palestinian commitment to stop and prevent terror attacks and violence,” according to a statement from his office.

The statement said the military would immediately ease blockades around Palestinian towns and allow shipment of goods. Within 48 hours, if the cease-fire holds, the Israeli military would begin changing its deployment.

Israeli Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar said he expected another security meeting to be held on Friday to assess the situation.

Israeli media said that according to the Tenet plan, the two sides have a week to carry out their basic commitments, followed by a six-week cooling off period that could pave the way toward a resumption of peace talks.

The Tenet formula goes hand in hand with recommendations by the international Mitchell Commission, which have been accepted by both sides and require Israel to freeze Jewish settlement construction once a cease-fire is in place.

On the Palestinian side, there has been widespread opposition to a truce.

Islamic militants, who have carried out more than a dozen bombings in Israel in the past nine months, said Wednesday they would continue their attacks.

“The Palestinians will continue the intefadeh (uprising) by all means until it achieves its goals,” including the end of Israeli occupation, said Ismail Abu Shanab, spokesman of the Hamas group in the Gaza Strip.

Militia commanders close to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have also said they oppose ending the uprising without having made political gains.

Under the Tenet plan, Israel and the Palestinians would try to prevent anyone in areas under their control from carrying out acts of violence.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — The Philippines’ president urged national unity Wednesday to fight a group of Muslim rebels holding more than two dozen captives but admitted that carrying out her promise to crush them could mean a “long and bloody war.”

The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who embarrassed the country with a prolonged hostage crisis last year, claimed Tuesday they had killed one of three Americans they hold. While fearing the worst, officials expressed cautious optimism that Guillermo Sobero of Corona, might still be alive after a massive search failed to find his body by Wednesday night.

But the discovery of three other bodies – one a beheaded Muslim cleric who was reportedly on a private negotiation effort – emphasized the lethal nature of the group that killed two Filipino teachers last year as a “birthday present” to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s predecessor.

“The nation is faced with a serious and strong challenge from the bandits,” Arroyo told a nationally televised news conference. “Abu Sayyaf is a scourge to our race. They are a curse to their religion.” “We will meet fire with fire, and more. No ransom. No deal. No cease-fire. No suspension of the military operation. We will not stop the campaign until we have cleansed Basilan and Sulu of the Abu Sayyaf forces,” she said, referring to

the southern islands where the rebels

are based.

Arroyo also threatened punishment for people helping the rebels hide or resupply, and the military said it was receiving a large number of tips after the government offered $2 million in rewards for information leading to the capture of Abu Sayyaf leaders and their kidnapping henchmen.

Abu Sabaya, an Abu Sayyaf leader, claimed Sobero was beheaded on Tuesday as a “present” to the country on its 103rd anniversary of independence.

The group also holds two American missionaries and about 25 Filipinos.

Sobero’s brother, Alberto, said on CBS-TV’s “The Early Show” that the FBI had informed him the likelihood of foul play “is very high.” But he said the family is trying to remain optimistic.

“Even though the hopes are slim, we’re still clinging to that,” the brother said Wednesday. “How do you tell a 6-year-old his father’s head has been cut off?”

Several hundred military reinforcements joined thousands of troops to hunt the rebels on Basilan. More were to arrive soon.

The military has advised caution about Sabaya’s execution claim, pointing out that he has lied before and made threats he has not carried out. “We believe that is still part of Sabaya’s bluff,” military spokesman Col. Danilo Servando said.

The three bodies, including the cleric’s, were found near where rebels seized 15 people from a plantation Monday, Servando said. The identity of the other two bodies was not clear, but officials said they were not any of the hostages.

Joel Maturan, mayor of the central Basilan town of Tipo Tipo, said the cleric and three other negotiators – who National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said were not working for the government – tried to approach the rebels. Three fled when Sabaya grew angry.

Maturan told ABS-CBN television that Sabaya ordered his men to tie up the cleric in the form of a cross.

They “immediately chopped off his head,” Maturan said. “Sabaya ordered the beheading of the priest on suspicion that he was spying for the military.”

On May 27, the rebels raided the Dos Palmas resort in the southwestern Philippines, taking 20 people hostage, including Sobero and Martin and Gracia Burnham, a missionary couple from Wichita, Kan. Nine captives later escaped, and two resort staff members were found hacked to death.

In subsequent attacks, the Abu Sayyaf took more hostages in a hospital and a plantation on Basilan.

Abu Sayyaf says it wants a southern Islamic state, but the government calls the rebels bandits. Though Muslims are a minority in the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines, they form a majority in the southern islands where the Abu Sayyaf operates.

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” through May 2002. An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery.” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history. “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu

“More Matters of Life and Death” June 15 - 17, 8 p.m. The newest cycle of this series, “Iris, Blue, Each Spring,” tackles the joys and sorrows of growing older and is set to “Six Japanese Songs” by Margaret Garwood. Presented by The Ruch Botchan Dance Company in concert with The Mirage Ensemble. $12 - $15 Western Sky Studio 2525 Eighth St. 848-4878

“Dance Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity” June 16, 8 p.m. and June 17, 2 p.m. The annual repertory concert for the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance features over 100 performers of dance and music from the South Pacific, India, Africa and the Middle East. $5 - $15 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

Kalanjali in Concert June 22, 7 p.m. Kalanjali concludes its celebration of its 25th year in Berkeley with a special recital. Experienced dancers and young students, with guests from India including dancer K. P. Yesoda and the musicians of Bharatakalanjali. $6 - $8 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

“The Laramie Project” Through July 8: Weds. 7 p.m., Tues. and Thur. -Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Written by Moises Kaufmen and members of Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Moises Kaufman. Moises Kaufman and Tectonic members traveled to Laramie, Wyo., after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepherd. The play is about the community and the impact Shepherd’s death had on its members. $10 - $50. The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

“Kid Kaleidoscope and the Puppet Players” June 24 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. The Puppet Players are a multi-media musical theatre group. Their shows are masterfully produced to thrill people of all ages with handmadesets and puppets. Adults $10, Children $5, 2640 College 867-7199

“Romeo and Juliet” June 14 - July 14, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m. Set in early 1930’s just before the rise of Hitler in the Kit Kat Klub, Juliet is torn between ties to the Nazi party and Romeo’s Jewish heritage. $8 - $10. La Val’s Subterranean Theater 1834 Euclid 234-6046

“A Life In the Theatre” Preview June 13. Opens June 14, runs through July 15. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. David Mamet play about the lives of two actors, considered a metaphor for life itself. Directed by Nancy Carlin. $30-$35. $26 preview nights. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant 843-4822

Films

Berkeley Film Festival, June 23, 1 p.m. Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery. Presnetation of Six films: The Good War, and Those Who Refused to Fight it (Judith Ehrlich and Rick Tejada Flores), Just Crazy About Horses (Tim Lovejoy and Joe Wemple), Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar (L. John Harris and Bill Hayes), In Between the Notes (William Farley and Sandra Sharpe) and KPFA On The Air (Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood). 2220 Shattuck 486-0411

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts and Paintings. Through Aug. 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541

“The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” chronicles the transformation of the city of Berkeley in this 10 year period. Thursday through Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. Berkeley History Center, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Wheelchair accessible. 848-0181. Free.

Readings

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. All events at 7:30 p.m. June 13: David Sedaris reads from “Me Talk Pretty One Day”; June 14: Ana Menendez reads from “In Cuba I Was A German Sheperd”; June 15: James Ellroy reads “The Cold Six Thousand.” 845-7852

Cody’s Books 1730 Fourth St. All events at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise. June 14: Stephanie Brill talks about “The Queer Parent’s Primer: A Lesbian and Gay Families’ Guide to Navigating the Straight World”; June 16, 4 p.m.: Chris Raschka presents a talk and demontration for children, and paints the store front window; June 18 Sherman Alexie- The Toughest Indian in the world. 559-9500

Freight & Salvage, June 23, 10 a.m.-noon Diane di Prima, beat poet and author of “recollections of My Life as a Woman”.

Simone Martel June 16, 2 p.m. Martel will read from her book “The Expectant Gardener: A Wise and Fun Guide to the Adventure of Backyard Growing” Barnes and Noble 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861

With the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, we are bound to hear once again that opponents of the death penalty never think about the victims.

But I oppose the death penalty and I think of the victims all the time. I believe we give the victims’ side too much sway in the penalty phase of a trial, so that our courts do not dispense justice in the best interest so much as the vendetta justice of a blood feud.

It seems to me that we, as a community, surrender some of our civility when we allow human sacrifice because it offers victims “joyful relief.” Civilized society is supposed to restrict primitive impulses. One Oklahoma grandmother, outraged when McVeigh was allowed a stay of execution so the court could examine allegations that due process had been violated, said, “My grandsons didn’t get justice. They didn’t get stays or lawyers.”

Her anger is understandable and moving, but should her private grief automatically override the proper pursuit of justice? Should it necessarily make us all accomplices in a killing committed by the state?

I’m not naive about the seductive power of retaliation, and I know about the perils of giving into the impulse for payback. I once did serious harm to someone who was brutalizing me – a justified act of self-defense under any moral code – but having a right to do something doesn’t necessarily make something the right thing to do.

In fact, victims can victimize themselves when they become consumed with rage and obsessed with retribution. This plays out in fights between prisoners, where the slightest insult can bring a violent response.

This complete loss of a sense of proportion may explain the Israeli citizen who told a radio interviewer he favored more F-16 bombings against the Palestinians because they only understand terror.

This sort of thinking reveals the absolute backwardness of retribution. Once the thrill of tit-for-tat wears off, only more of the same will do. Emancipation from violence cannot be underwritten with more violence.

I have diminished my strong impulse for retribution, but I wonder if I will be able to discourage my children from the socially permissible ethic of reprisal. (Teachers will tell you that when they break up fights, boys will tell them that their fathers told them to always hit back.)

President Bush and other officials have called for “an unconditional cessation” of escalating violence between Israel and the Palestinians, but they don’t see that the same principle should apply to the death penalty.

That’s why a recent appeal from a group of religious, civil rights and political leaders for an immediate federal moratorium on capital punishment fell on deaf ears, as did Amnesty International’s criticism of the United States for its continued use of the death penalty.

We are misled, like cops and guards who break the law, if we believe that an execution is the best way to confirm the values the criminal is thought to have violated.

We should break the cycle of violent action and reaction by using our moral energy to unconditionally cease our need to avenge. It should be the work of a civilized, pluralistic society to mitigate the retaliatory impulse of blood feuds. Some rape victims and people whose loved ones have been killed have found ways to disengage from the compulsive desire for revenge. They refuse to allow the violence to disrupt their principles. Their moral strength is restraint, and they are heroes. They are our examples of how the cycle can be broken.

PNS commentator Joe Loya is a California writer currently writing a memoir on his experience in prison. His e-mail address is buddhalobo@aol.com.

In an event that was months in the planning, more than 300 members of Berkeley churches packed St. Joseph the Worker Church Monday night to hear school district officials publicly pledge to reform the English Language Learner program at Berkeley High.

The majority in the audience were St. Joseph parishioners of Latino heritage who contend that students in the ELL program receive an inferior education, making it difficult for them to gain entry to four-year colleges and, beyond that, high-paying professions. (Forty percent of the ELL program’s 350 students are Latino).

St. Joseph’s Father George Crespin opened the meeting, delivering a solemn message to Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch and two members of the Board of Education: Board President Terry Doran and Board Director Joaquin Rivera.

“We aren’t going to accept any more that our students aren’t successful (in school), and that this is considered normal,” Father Crespin said in fluent Spanish, to a roar of applause from the audience.

It fell to St. Joseph parishioner Maribel Rodriguez to detail complaints against the ELL program. Near the top of the list was concern that many students are placed in the program unnecessarily and then remain in the program because they don’t know how to get out.

The ELL program is intended for students who need help improving their English skills before they enroll in regular classes at Berkeley High. Rodriguez said some students end up in the program even though they have been enrolled in Berkeley schools since kindergarten and are fluent in English.

After Rodriguez spoke, half a dozen Berkeley High students gave testimonials about how they were wrongly assigned to the ELL program, or how they were held in the program long after the time when they were ready to move into regular classes at Berkeley High.

Berkeley resident Eva Perez said after the meeting Monday that the problems experienced by students today are the same problems she faced as a Berkeley High freshman more than 10 years ago.

“It’s sad to see after 10 years the same things repeating,” she said.

Perez was born and raised in Berkeley and graduated from Berkeley High in 1991. Despite being fluent in English, she said she was placed in the Berkeley High ELL program after writing on an official document that she spoke Spanish at home with her parents.

The confusion was quickly cleared up when her mother went to the school to demand an explanation, Perez said. But many students don’t understand clearly what the ELL program is, Perez said, and don’t think to ask why they’ve been assigned to it.

“A lot of time students don’t know what’s going on, so they don’t tell their parents,” Perez said.

Other complaints leveled against the ELL program Monday focused on what happens to students once they are in the program. Speakers delivered grievance after grievance: that students in the program are taught core subjects like math and history at lower levels than other Berkeley High students; that students in the program don’t have enough access to Berkeley High classes outside the program; and that some of the English classes offered in the program don’t count toward English credits needed to be eligible for admission to University of California or California State University colleges.

School officials refuted many of the claims made Monday night in interviews Tuesday.

Rita Perez, home school liaison for the Berkeley High ELL program, said all students are carefully assessed so that only those with limited English skills are placed in ELL classes at Berkeley High. Students are reassessed continually while at Berkeley High to see if they are ready to move into regular classes, she said.

Moving students into mainstream classes is the whole point of the ELL program, Perez said.

As for access to other Berkeley High classes, Perez said ELL students are free to devise any schedule that they want. They can take all ELL classes, some ELL classes and some regular classes, or all regular classes, she said. It’s just a matter of either having the parents sign a waiver saying they don’t want to be in ELL classes, or passing an English proficiency test so they are no longer classified as having “limited” English.

“If they decide they want to be in mainstream classes, we’re not going to say no,” Perez said.

Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch said some of the concerns registered Monday were legitimate and pledged to work with the St. Joseph parishioners to see that they are addressed. But he also defended the ELL program, saying the ELL staff is hard working and dedicated to the work of preparing students with limited English to take full advantage of Berkeley High’s academic offerings.

Director Rivera said after the meeting Monday that he would work over the summer to identify exactly what the problems are with the ELL program and to communicate his findings to the St. Joseph’s parishioners.

“They really presented what their concerns are in a very positive and productive way that really opened the door to true dialogue and collaboration,” Rivera said.

Wednesday June 13, 2001

Wednesday, June 13

Defining Diversity

7 - 9 p.m.

Ecology Center

2530 San Pablo Ave.

Different interpretations of biological and cultural diversity and how it’s used for very different purposes. 548-2220

Commission On Disability

Hearings

4 - 6 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst St.

Open forum, opportunity for public to present ideas and concerns about barriers for people with disabilities and accessibility of City facilities. Public comment on Berkeley’s proposed “Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan.” Also, naming I-80 overcrossing after Ed Roberts, requesting Congressional Representatives and Senators to add benefits for dental and eyeglasses coverage in Medi-Care.

981-6342

Lead-Safe Painting and Home

Remodeling

6 - 8 p.m.

Claremont Branch Library

2940 Benvenue Ave.

Free course on how to detect and remedy lead hazards in the home.

567-8280

“Illusions of the

‘New Economy’”

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Ave.

Talk by professor and author Dick Walker. $5 donation requested.

415-863-6637

Claremont Elmwood

Neighborhood Association

General Meeting

7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

St. Clement’s Episcopal Church

2837 Claremont Blvd.

Covers area of Berkeley south of Dwight Way and east of Collage Avenue. Presentations on neighborhood issues.

549-3793

Trees and Shrubs of

California

7:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

John Stuart and John Sawyer will be speaking about and signing their new book, “Trees and Shrubs of California.” Free.

643-2755

Library Board of Trustees Meeting

7 p.m.

South Branch Library

1901 Russell Street

Regular meeting, including a building projects update.

644-6095

Police Review

Commission Meeting

7:30 p.m.

South Berkeley Senior Center

2939 Ellis Street

Regular meeting with a recruitment update and continuing discussion on marijuana arrests.

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through August 17. $8 - $35 sliding scale per session 548-8283 x534 or x522

City Commons Club,

Luncheon and Speaker

11:45 a.m.

Berkeley City Club

2315 Durant Ave.

This week featuring Edward Fox on “Regional Development Plans of The Wilderness Society.” Come early for social hour. Lunch at 11:45 for $11-$12.25. Come at 12:30 to hear the speaker only for $1, students free. Reservations required for three or more.

848-3533

Saturday, June 16

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 548-3333

Berkeley Arts Festival

Music Circus

1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Shattuck Ave. between University Ave. and Channing Way

The Music Circus will feature dozens of eclectic performances ranging from string quartets to blues and jazz. Free bus fare to and from the event offered by AC Transit. 665-9496. Free.

Botanical Garden Spring Party

3 - 6 p.m.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

Celebrating the completion of the new Arid House and the renovation of the Southern African area. Food, wine and jazz. Fund-raiser for the Garden, $25 per person.

643-2755

Puppet Shows on Cultural and Medical Differences

1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Hall of Health

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level)

Two shows for kids of all ages and their families promote acceptance and understanding of cultural and medical differences. Free.

549-1564

Poets’ Corner

1:30 - 4 p.m.

Shattuck and Kittredge

Ten poets will read on the downtown street corner as a kick-off event for the two-week Berkeley Arts Festival. 649-3929

Energy Crisis

2 p.m.

6501 Telegraph Avenue

Oakland

“Why They Can’t Keep the Lights On and What We Can Do About It.” Graham Brownstein and other panalists provide information on the corporate rip-off sometimes referred to as the “energy crisis.”

Bus and walk to: The Crucuble, workshop of arts and the industry; Bay Area Center for the Consolidated Arts; and the Juneteenth Celebration, annual street fair of African-American Roots with music, dance and food.

486-0411

The Discord Aggregate Intersection

7 p.m.

Gathering of local artists, poets, musicians, composers and others. Non-profit group meets every three to four weeks. This week, Tasmanian photographer Tony Ryan will present his work. For location and other information e-mail alemap@discord-aggregate.com

Music and Meditation

8 - 9 p.m.

The Heart-Road Traveller

1828 Euclid Ave.

Group mediation through instrumental music and devotional songs, led by Lucian Balmer and Baoul Scavullo. Free.

496-3468

Buddhist Mantra/Healing

6 p.m.

Tibetan Nyingma Institute

1815 Highland Place

Bob Byrne on “Mantra and Healing,” a deep and personal kind of healing. Free.

843-6812

Monday, June 18

Raging Grannies Meeting

7 p.m.

1924 Cedar Fellowship Hall

UC Berkeley

East Bay/San Francisco Raging Grannies organizing meeting. Celebrate life with laughter and song.

528-5403

Tuesday, June 19

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church

941 The Alameda

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips.

Call Don, 525-3565

Young Queer Women’s Group

8 - 9:30 p.m.

Pacific Center

2712 Telegraph Ave.

Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2 - 7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Intelligent Conversation

7 - 9 p.m.

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center

A discussion group open to all, regardless of age, religion, viewpoint, etc. This time the discussion will center on frugality, generosity, simplifying life, and dealing with money. Informally led by Robert Berend, who founded similar groups in L.A., Menlo Park, and Prague. Bring light snacks/drinks to share. Free

527-5332

Fibromyalgia Support Group

Noon - 2 p.m.

Alta Bates Medical Center

Maffly Auditorium, Herrick Campus

2001 Dwight Way

This will be a rap session.

601-0550

A Journey Through Eastern Europe

7:30 p.m.

Easy Going Travel Shop and Bookstore

1385 Shattuck Avenue

Angelina Sorensen, Bulgarian native, will give an overview of the best places to visit through a slide presentation and display of regional arts and crafts. Free.

843-3533

Energy-Saving Skylight

8 a.m. - Noon

Truitt and White Lumber

642 Hearst Avenue

The new Velux VSE skylight, winner of the Energy Star award, could help reduce home energy use. On view today.

841-0511

Wednesday, June 20

Carefree/Carfree Tour

11 a.m.

Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery

2200 Shattuck Ave.

Meet at the Gallery, take the bus to the Oakland Museum to take a tour with David Bacon of his exhibition “Every Worker Is An Organizer: Farm Labor and the Resurgence of the UFW.”

486-0411

(gp)

Berkeley Communicator Toastmasters Club

7:15 a.m.

Vault Cafe

3250 Adeline

Learn to speak with confidence. Ongoing first and third Wednesdays each month.

Public speaking skills and metaphysics come together. Ongoing first and third Thursdays each month.

Call 869-2547

LGBT Catholics Group

7:30 p.m.

Newman Hall

2700 Dwight Way (at College)

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender Catholics group are “a spiritual community committed to creating justice.” This session will be a “Pride Mass.”

654-5486

Summer Noon Concerts 2001

Noon - 1 p.m.

Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza

Shattuck at Center St.

Weekly concert series. This week Capoeira Arts Cafe.

Community Tribute to Jeffrey Leiter

5 p.m. Dinner, 8 p.m. Performance

Santa Fe Bar and Grill

1310 University Avenue

The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra is hosting a Community Tribute to honor former Mayor and Symphony Board Presedent Jeffrey Shattuck Leiter. Dinner at Santa Fe Bar and Grill, followed by an 8 p.m. Berkeley Symphony performance at Zellerbach Hall. For information and tickets, call 841-2800

Friday, June 22

Living Philosophers

10 a.m. - Noon

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.

Therapy for Trans Partners

6 - 7:30 p.m.

Pacific Center for Human Growth

2712 Telegraph Ave. (at Derby)

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. The group is structured to be a safe place to receive support from peers and explore a variety of issues, including sexual orientation, coming out, feelings of isolation, among other topics. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through August 17.

$8 - $35 sliding scale per session

Call 548-8283 x534 or x522

Strong Women; The Arts, Herstory and Literature

1:15 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly cultural studies course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program. Free.

Call 549-2970

City Commons Club, Luncheon and Speaker

11:45 a.m.

Berkeley City Club

2315 Durant Ave.

This week featuring Jeffrey Riegle, Ph.D., on “Historical Reasons for China’s Current Conduct.” Come early for social hour. Lunch at 11:45 for $11-$12.25. Come at 12:30 to hear the speaker only for $1, students free. Reservations required for three or more.

848-3533

Saturday, June 23

“Feast of Fire” benefit for the Crucible

10:30 p.m.

The Crucible

1036 Ashby Ave.

Act III, The Flight of Icarus, will feature live music and performances by several groups including Capacitor and Xeno. Price of admission benefits the Crucible, a multi-disciplinary community arts center. $20 at the door.

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

Summer Solstice Celebration

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Civic Center Park

Center St. and MLK Jr. Way

Farmers market plus crafts fair and live reggae and jazz.

548-3333

Strawberry Creek Walking Tour

10 a.m. - Noon

Learn about Strawberry Creek’s history, explore its neighborhoods, and consider its potential. Meet four experts on the local creeks. Reservations required, call 848-0181.

Energy-Efficient Wood Windows

9:30 - 11:30 a.m.

Truitt and White Lumber

642 Hearst Avenue

Free seminar by Marvin Window’s representative Chris Martin on how to measure and install the double-hung Tilt Pac replacement unit, as well as a review of the full line of Marvin’s energy-efficient wood windows.

649-2574

What You Need to Know Before You Build or Remodel

10 a.m. - Noon

The Building Education Center

812 Page Street

Free seminar by professional builder Glen Kitzenberger.

525-7610

Choosing to Add On: The Pros and Cons of Building an Addition

Noon - 2 p.m.

The Building Education Center

812 Page Street

Free seminar by author/designer Skip Wenz

525-7610

Sunday, June 24

Hands-On Bicycle Repair Clinics

11 a.m. - Noon

Recreational Equipment, Inc.

1338 San Pablo Ave.

Learn how to fix a flat from one of REI’s bike technicians. All you need to bring is your bike. Free

527-4140

Uncle Eye

2 p.m.

Berkeley-Richmond Jewish

Community Center

1414 Walnut Ave.

Come see Ira Levin, a.k.a. Uncle Eye, give a special performance as a fund-raiser for a television pilot to be filmed this summer. $7 - $10.

848-0237 or www.uncle-eye.com

Carefree/Carfree Tour

1 p.m.

Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery

2200 Shattuck Avenue

Artful garden tour, part of the Berkeley Arts Festival. Ride AC Transit to Marcia Donohue and Mark Bulwinkle’s Our Own Stuff Garden and Gallery, then walk to the Dry Garden.

486-0411

Carefree/Carfree Tour #2

1:30 p.m.

Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery

2200 Shattuck Avenue

Ride the bus to the Codornices Creek Restoration Project and the Peralta Community Garden and enjoy a concert by Nicole Miller.

486-0411

Monday, June 25

Tectonic Theater Project

7 p.m.

Berkeley Rep’s Roda Theater

2015 Addison Street

“Page to Stage: Surviving the Media” is a conversation with The Tectonic Theater Project and professor Douglas Foster. The Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepard and wrote a play about the impact Shepard’s death, and the following media scrutiny, had upon the small community. The Laramie Project is running through July 8 at the Berkeley Rep.

647-2900

What You Need to Know Before You Build or Remodel

7 - 9 p.m.

The Building Education Center

812 Page Street

Free seminar by professional builder Glen Kitzenberger.

525-7610

Tuesday, June 26

Saranel Benjamin of Globalization

7 p.m.

Oakland YMCA

1515 Webster Street, Oakland

Saranel Benjamin, trade unionist from South Africa, will discuss the impact of corporate globalization on South African workers. Sponsored by Berkeley’s Women of Color Resource Center.

848-9272

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church

941 The Alameda

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips.

Call Don, 525-3565

Wednesday, June 27

Conversations in Commedia

7:30 p.m.

La Pena

3105 Shattuck Ave.

The series pairs radical theater “elders” to share memories of their years in commedia. This week with former Mime Troupe actress Audrey Smith and Ladies Against Women character Selma Spector. $6 - $8.

849-2568

Thursday, June 28

(gp)

Quit Smoking Class

6 - 8 p.m.

South Berkeley Senior Center

2939 Ellis Street

A six week quit smoking class. Free to Berkeley residents and employees.

Hear and entertain the ideas of some modern day philosophers: Jacob Needleman, J. Revel, Hilary Putnam, John Searle, Saul Kripke, Richard Rorty and others. Every Friday, except holidays. Facilitated by H.D. Moe.

Therapy for Trans Partners

6 - 7:30 p.m.

Pacific Center for Human Growth

2712 Telegraph Ave. (at Derby)

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. The group is structured to be a safe place to receive support from peers and explore a variety of issues, including sexual orientation, coming out, feelings of isolation, among other topics. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through August 17.

$8 - $35 sliding scale per session

Call 548-8283 x534 or x522

Strong Women; The Arts, Herstory and Literature

1:15 - 3:15 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way)

Taught by Dr. Helen Rippier Wheeler, author of “Women and Aging: A Guide to Literature,” this is a free weekly cultural studies course in the Berkeley Adult School’s Older Adults Program.

The Women In Black held their demonstration in San Francisco last week on the corner of Market and Montgomery. As usual they had the same old banners saying “Stop the Occupation and the Terrorism Will Stop.” Well, the occupation stopped in 1993 in 95 percent of the West Bank and 100 percent of the Gaza Strip. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was even willing to give much more, but Arafat turned it down and “The Women in Black” continue with their time worn out catch phrases.

The Israeli troops are present only to protect the Jewish settlers from being massacred by the Palestinians. But you must note that there is no need for Arafat’s army to protect the Israeli Arabs living in Israel proper. The Israeli Arabs serve in the Knesset, have their own papers and radio stations, live the good life without any fear.

Aubrey Lee Broudy

Berkeley

Adopt eco-pass now

The Daily Planet received this letter addressed to the mayor and council:

I write to urge your approval for the one-year trial, free AC Transit pass for city employees. I believe this proposal is the preferred transit plan for the following reasons:

1) There has been much discussion and study of transit incentives here in Berkeley. I do not believe another study is necessary, and in fact I believe would only delay implementation of an important opportunity for the city.

2) The proposed one-year trial is doable immediately, and indeed has been endorsed by the Green Party of Alameda County as the preferable option before the Berkeley City Council at this time.

3) Though I believe business and other institutional support for this program is imperative, as far as I know at this time the Berkeley Unified School District has not been part of plans to implement any free or reduced transit program. In fact, due to the nature of the district's budget cuts and adjustments this year, it does not seem feasible to fund any additional programs at this time; our budget is in final form and will be approved as such at the June 20 School Board meeting.

I want to emphasize that I would be glad to sponsor or co-sponsor District support for and implementation of the City's AC Transit pass program at a time later in the summer or early fall when the district's state funding is known and finalized, and additional program funding is possible. Clearly, however, it would be impossible for the district to fund and undertake the expense of such a program at this time.

If further study is necessary to expand this AC Transit plan to include BART and other sources of transportation, these studies can and should occur while there is a model program in effect. It is important for the city to move forward on this issue, model and show the District, other institutions, and businesses that it is possible and will indeed reduce traffic, congestion, and parking pressures downtown and elsewhere, and that finally doing something is far better than doing nothing at all. I speak as a citizen and resident of Berkeley, as one School Board member, but not for the entire Board nor the District.

This afternoon will likely be the last chance for the public to contribute to Berkeley’s ADA Draft Transition Plan, which will act as a guide for making all public facilities in the city accessible to the disabled.

“This Transition Plan is an important document,” said Commissioner on Disability Charlie Betcher. “It’s been years in the making and this is the final chance for the public to have input. We want to hear from everybody who has an interest.”

This is the second public hearing on the draft plan. The first hearing, on June 2, had a low turnout with only two people showing up. Many of the commissioners blamed poor public awareness for the low turnout.

The Transition Plan is required by the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act. The wide-ranging legislation is designed to give disabled people access to life as it is lived by people without disabilities – in employment, public services and public accommodations. It is designed to remove physical, social or institutional barriers that lock out the disabled.

Under the act, every city in the country is required to create a transition plan spelling out exactly what needs to be done to make public buildings, offices and other facilities disabled accessible.

According to the city’s Disability Services Specialist Eric Dibner, many of the city’s public buildings have already been made accessible. But he said it’s important for all issues of accessibility to brought up during the public hearing today.

“This plan is only required to deal with buildings the city owns or has programs in,” he said. “If people have concerns about buildings not listed in the plan we want to hear from them because the city ultimately wants to address all accessibility problems in Berkeley.”

Dibner said an example of outstanding needs in Berkeley is traffic accommodations such as audible traffic signals, traffic humps and sidewalk obstructions.

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said many people tend to think the disabled community consists only of those who rely on wheelchairs. “The disabled come in all shapes and sizes,” he said. “It’s important for everyone, including the sight and hearing impaired and others come to the hearing.”

Worthington said the more issues the plan covers the greater the city’s ability to apply for federal, state and private funds for accessibility projects.

Commissioner on Disability Karen Craig said it’s important the public participate because it would be impossible for the commission to be aware of every accessibility issue in the city.

Craig said Jim Donelson, one of the two members of the public that showed up on June 2, told the commission of several important problems at the Berkeley Pier that were not covered in the Transition Plan.

Donelson, a Berkeley resident who relies on a wheelchair, raised three issues at that hearing: the pier’s fish-cleaning sinks are too high for someone in a wheelchair, the surface of the pier is pocked with large ruts and the windblocks are inaccessible to people in wheelchairs.

“I didn’t know this commission existed until a day before the last public hearing,” Donelson said. “I plan to not only attend the hearing but to bring a few people with me. I have a lot of questions for that commission.”

Center for Independent Living Deputy Director Gerald Baptiste, said he was planning to read the draft plan Tuesday night and if there was anything important left out he would make sure the commission was made aware of it today. CIL Director Jan Garrett planned to attend this afternoon’s hearing as well, he said.

Dibner said after the public hearing, there will likely be some revisions to the plan and then the commission will send the plan, along with a plan from the City Manger’s Office, to the City Council for final approval. “We hope to finish this by the end of the summer,” he said.

Craig said it’s critical for members of the public who are concerned about accessibility issues to come to the hearing. “If they don’t participate now, they won’t have any right to complain later,” she said.

The public hearing on the Draft ADA Transition Plan will be held today at the North Berkeley Senior Center at 1901 Hearst Ave. at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way from 4 - 6 p.m.

Berkeley recyclers represented by the Industrial Workers of the World signed their first union contract with Community Conservation Centers last week after a relatively short bargaining process.

The new contract raised wages by more than 20 percent, expanding health coverage to employees’ families and, according to IWW organizer and negotiator Steve Toff, providing workers with a real voice on their jobs.

“With the new contracts (the CCC workers) can challenge the management through an expedient grievance procedure,” Toff said. “There is a respect clause in the contract and there will be a safety committee with an equal number of workers and management.”

For one month after they were requested to do so, the CCC management refused to recognize the IWW as a legal bargaining agent. That all changed when a National Labor Relations Board-sponsored election was administered on Feb. 7. The election resulted in a 16-0 vote in favor of allowing the IWW to represent the CCC employees.

Toff said, “Because it was such a strong vote in our favor, it became clear to the management that they would have to negotiate with us. The employees were overwhelmingly in our favor. One day they all stayed late and came to the negotiations to show that they were in support of what we were doing.”

Negotiations lasted only three months, which, according to Toff, is an extremely short period of time.

“The first contract is typically the hardest to settle,” he said. “It is more difficult because you’re starting from scratch, and there are always a lot of kinks to work out.”

The new contract, which was accepted by the workers in a unanimous vote, will change the CCC workplace by providing paid holidays, new vision and dental plans, a severance package and a $100 stipend for workers to purchase boots along with the pay increase and family health plan.

“We feel good,” said union member Rick Garcia. “Everyone is happy about the new contracts. We’re happy about the wages and the way that we are treated is changing. The most important change is the health coverage for our families; now we can take our kids to the hospital and not have to worry about a huge bill coming later.”

With the signing of the contract the CCC workers became the second Berkeley recycling group to be represented by the IWW. They join the Berkeley Ecology Center curbside recyclers who have been represented by the IWW since 1989.

A man asking for change in a Chevron station Sunday afternoon lifted his T-shirt to reveal a handgun tucked in his waist band and told the attendant hand over all the money in the cash register, police said.

The attendant complied, handing over more than $150 in cash. Police have no suspects in the case.

Exhibition looking for artist participation

Local artists are invited to participate in a juried exhibition at the Pro Arts Gallery that will run during July and August. Pro Arts, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1974 to promote the visual arts of the diverse cultures in the East Bay.

Works in any media are welcome for this exhibition. The cost for non-members is $20 per entry for the first two pieces and $10 for each additional submission. The fee will include an annual membership. Members pay $10 each for the first two and $5 for each additional work. Bring submissions to the Pro Arts Gallery at 461 Ninth Street in Oakland between 1 and 7 p.m. June 27.

The exhibition will run July 12 through August 18. A reception for the artists will be held on July 12 from 6 - 8 p.m. For more information go to www.proartsgallery.org.

New books donated to library

The Berkeley-Richmond Jewish Community Center Library has acquired new books for its collection. The library, which is open to the public, has a variety of fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books to borrow. Located at 1414 Walnut Street, it is open from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, as well as evening hours on Thursday from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Unattended cooking oil sparks fire

A third-floor kitchen fire activated an emergency sprinkler system that soaked four University Avenue apartments and two businesses including the Berkeley Daily Planet office late Monday night.

Assistant Fire Chief David Orth said the fire started just before midnight in the building manager’s top floor apartment. “She left cooking oil unattended on the stove while she was in the next room working on her computer,” Orth said. The sprinkler contained the small fire in the kitchen until fire fighters arrived, Orth said.

Most the damage to the apartments and ground-floor businesses, estimated at $60,000, was caused by water from the emergency sprinkler system. The newspaper office and next door Oyster Software, Inc. suffered minor damage to computers and furniture.

Memorial service for court judge

There will be a memorial service honoring State Appellate Court Justice Clinton White on June 28. The service is sponsored by the Charles Houston Bar Association, the Alameda County Bar Association and the California Association of Black Lawyers, the service will be held at 1 p.m. at the Calvin Simmons Theater in the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center at 10 Tenth Street in Oakland. For more information, call 272-6504.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday ordered California to continue using gasoline additives to reduce air pollution, providing a boost to the ethanol industry and raising concern about California gas prices.

California officials have argued the additives no longer are needed to meet the state’s stringent air pollution requirements and could expose California’s gasoline market to price manipulation and shortages if ethanol supplies fall short.

“Their decision means significantly higher gasoline prices at the pump and calls into question whether California will have an adequate gas supply,” said California Gov. Gray Davis in Sacramento. ”(It) does nothing to improve air quality.”

Davis, who already has been in a tug of war with the Bush administration over electricity prices, had asked the White House for a waiver of a 1970 Clean Air Act requirement that gasoline contain an oxygenate to help fight air pollution.

But EPA Administrator Christie Whitman said she had no choice other than to reject the waiver, saying that California had not “met the test” of demonstrating that the waiver would not reduce air quality. She disagreed that the use of ethanol would necessarily boost gasoline prices.

The waiver was viewed as critical by California officials because the state is phasing out the use of an existing additive, MTBE, which has been found to pollute groundwater. The only replacement is corn-based ethanol, currently manufactured mostly in the Midwest.

The decision could have impact elsewhere as at least eight other states have prohibited, or are in the process of banning, MTBE. If a waiver had been granted to California, many of those states – including much of the Northeast – likely would have asked for an exemption as well.

Winston Hickox, head of the California EPA, said that the MTBE ban, to be imposed in California at the end of 2002, may now have to be postponed. “The time frame is now open to consideration,” he said at a news conference in Sacramento.

Hickox also raised concern that there will be enough ethanol to meet the state’s needs.

“Does that ring any bells?” Hickox asked, alluding to California’s current battle with high electricity costs because of shortages from mostly outside power suppliers.

California officials have argued – with the support of the oil industry – that a new generation of gasoline, “RFG III,” already meets the state’s clean air requirements without an additive.

“RFG III would be less expensive to produce than gasoline with ethanol, and ... California air would be cleaner than it would with ethanol,” said William Rukeyser, a spokesman for the California EPA.

He said the federal EPA’s own blue-ribbon panel, which several years ago urged a phaseout of MTBE as an additive because of concern about water pollution, “validated what we’re saying about RFG III gasoline.”

Farming interests and their supporters in Congress have lobbied against a waiver, viewing the California market as key to expansion of the ethanol industry.

The industry has dismissed concerns that it won’t be able to meet California’s demand for ethanol.

“Because ethanol has twice the oxygen content of MTBE, refiners only need to blend half as much ethanol to meet the oxygen requirement,” said Bob Dineen, vice president of the Renewable Fuels Association.

The ethanol industry produces about 2 billion gallons of the additive annually, most of it in the Midwest. The industry estimates production will reach 3.5 billion gallons by the end of 2003.

On the Net:

Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/

California EPA: http://www.calepa.ca.gov/

Renewable Fuels Association: http://www.ethanolRFA.org/

Q: How will the decision affect gas prices?

A: The Davis administration says requiring the state to import about 450 gallons of ethanol a year will increase gasoline prices 2 to 3 cents a gallon. That’s if everything goes right. If we have supply problems or gas shortage, officials warn gas prices could spike as much as 50 cents a gallon higher. State Energy Commission officials say refineries will have to retool to use ethanol, which will increase operating costs. California will use half the national supply of ethanol, which also reduces a car’s gas mileage.

Q: Why does California have to add ethanol to gasoline?

A: California has banned MTBE, which adds oxygen to help fuel burn more cleanly but taints the water supply. Based on studies by UC Berkeley and the California EPA, Gov. Gray Davis scheduled to phase it out by 2002. Ethanol is the only possible replacement. However, the California EPA and Air Resource Board determined the oxygen requirement makes no sense in California because we already have cleaner burning gas.

Q: How does Bush gain politically by denying the waiver?

A: Bush is aggressively courting Iowa, a major supplier of corn, looking ahead to the 2002 elections and to his own re-election campaign in 2004. He lost the state by fewer than 5,000 votes to Democrat Al Gore in November.

Farm groups and their ethanol-producing partners have lobbied intensely against the waiver, reminding administration officials that corn-producing states in the Midwest generally supported Bush last year.

One of the biggest ethanol producers, Archer Daniels Midland, contributed more than $500,000 to Republicans during the past two years, including $100,000 to Bush’s inauguration

Q: What will the ethanol do to the air?

A: Officials at the Air Resources Board say ethanol actually results in greater nitrogen oxygen emissions, which means more smog as well as greater toxic emissions. When you add ethanol, you add an ingredient to smog.

Q: Why are gas prices going down in so many other parts of the country but not in California?

A: California EPA officials say one reason is California’s high clean-air standards, which raise gasoline prices. California is essentially a separate market, an energy island on which all the gas produced here is consumed here. According to the Energy Commission, California’s gas prices were on average 30 percent higher than the rest of the country for the week ending June 11. Nationally, prices fell by 3 cents, but went up 1.5 cents here. In addition, wholesale and spot-market prices are going down. There’s every indication that California gas prices should be going down, and it’s a very good question to ask oil companies and dealers why they are not, Energy Commission officials said.

SACRAMENTO — State budget negotiators were planning to meet publicly Wednesday for the first time in six days, but too late to make the rarely met constitutional deadline for passing the budget.

Staff members of the six-lawmaker panel have been holed up in closed-door meetings since last Thursday, looking for places to cut nearly $1 billion in new spending to pump up the state’s reserves to $2 billion.

The committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, originally had set a deadline to wrap up by last Sunday.

“We are in the midst of the most difficult budget process in 10 years,” Cardenas, D-Arleta, said in a statement Tuesday, adding that the committee “is facing very difficult decisions.”

The committee is crafting a $102 billion state budget from three separate proposals – one from each house of the Legislature and from Gov. Gray Davis.

The state constitution requires that the Legislature send a budget to the governor by June 15 – but it includes no penalties and the deadline seldom is met.

Budget negotiators concede that the deadline cannot be met this year. However, they say they will complete their work in time for the governor to sign a spending plan by July 1, the day the new fiscal year begins.

All of the major issues remain on the table, including spending for education, foster care and health care. Also, Republicans have said they will continue to call for a larger reserve.

Budget observers say this year’s process may be moving slowly because of questions about the state’s financial health.

A statewide energy crisis and economic downturn “make it difficult to look into the future and say, ’Well this is what we are going to have to work with,”’ in revenues, said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project.

——

On the Net: See the governor’s spending plan at www.dof.ca.gov and the legislative plans at www.lao.ca.gov

The first Web-based application in the nation allowing low-income children and pregnant women to enroll in public health insurance programs was announced Tuesday by Gov. Gray Davis.

“Health-e-App is the first automated program in the country to allow people to apply to the Healthy Families Program,” Davis said at a news conference held in a community health center in San Francisco’s Chinatown.

Davis has requested $2.1 million to make the program, available in Spanish and English, available statewide. It was tested in San Diego in January.

The Governor’s current year budget includes $800,000 for Heath-e-App technical infrastructure. Governor Davis included $1.3 million in the 2001-2002 Budget to fund statewide implementation of Health-e-App over the next year.

Health-e-App allows the electronic transmission of the application, signature, and supporting documents to the appropriate public health insurance programs for final processing and determination of eligibility.

Applicants receive a confirmation that their application has been received by the state for either the Healthy Families Program, which covers children, or Medi-Cal.

Whereas the current paperwork process can take from 45 minutes to an hour, officials said the Health-e-App enrollment process should take less than 30 minutes, depending on the size of the family.

The pilot program was tested by six community-based organizations in San Diego County.

Health-e-App was developed by the California HealthCare Foundation in partnership with the State of California. The Foundation provided $1 million in funding to develop and test the new process.

The Healthy Families Program is a state and federally funded health coverage program for children in families with incomes above the level eligible for Medi-Cal and below 250 percent of the federal income guidelines ($36,576 for a family of three.)

Some 21,000 community-based assistants who currently provide families with free help in completing the paper version of the joint Healthy Families Program/Medi-Cal for Children application are being trained to assist families with the new online application.

KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — Grace was coughing up blood. Her feet were numb. Her head pounded. Her mouth was full of sores. Her throat burned with a choking infection. Ulcers riddled her stomach.

She was thin and bedridden and certain she was about to die.

That was two weeks ago – before the AIDS medicine.

Now, she no longer coughs up blood. The sores have cleared up, and the throat infection – treated simultaneously with another medication — is gone. The one meal of thin porridge she struggled to eat every day has turned into six daily meals filled with fruit and meat. She has gained 19 pounds.

The miracle is not Grace’s amazing recovery. It is that an unemployed woman living in a shack with six other people would get the expensive medicine that can turn AIDS from a killer into a manageable disease.

Grace, who is probably the first poor person in South Africa to get free AIDS medication, owes her health to a small program designed partly to prove it is possible to provide AIDS drugs to poor South Africans, and partly to shame the government into making them available.

“We came here to demonstrate that it is not too costly ... and we came here to demonstrate that it is not too difficult, that it is totally feasible,” said Dr. Eric Goemaere, head of the South African mission of Medecins Sans Frontieres, the international humanitarian organization running the program.

About 4.7 million South Africans are infected with HIV, but only a few thousand have private health insurance that covers the cost of medication.

Government officials have expressed concern about the drugs’ toxicity and the lack of the necessary health infrastructure, especially in rural areas, to administer them.

“We have no plans to introduce the wholesale administration of these drugs in the public sector,” Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told Parliament last week.

Tshabalala-Msimang told Parliament on Tuesday that just treating AIDS-related illnesses could overwhelm the national health budget. She said a government study had shown that the treatment priority should be fighting tuberculosis, which badly affects AIDS sufferers.

These statements infuriate AIDS activists, whose hopes for a national treatment program were sparked in April after drug companies ended their challenge to a South African law that could allow the import or manufacture of cheap copies of patented AIDS drugs.

Now, activists are planning a series of protests, painting the fight for AIDS treatment as an extension of the struggle against apartheid – a battle for the rights of the powerless.

“We think it is quite appalling. (The government) is basically prepared to make these people expendable,” said Nathan Geffen of the Treatment Action Campaign.

The Medecins Sans Frontieres’ program in the poor Cape Town suburb of Khayelitsha hopes to persuade leaders not to abandon Africans, who make up 70 percent of the world’s 36 million AIDS-infected people.

Some experts worry whether poor Africans will adhere to the pill-taking schedule needed to prevent the virus from becoming resistant to antiretroviral drugs, but Goemaere is certain they will. He says the labs and doctors needed to support a drug program are available, at least in cities.

“We are realistic. There is no way (the government) will suddenly drop antiretrovirals all over the place,” he said.

However, South Africa should at least begin pilot programs and draw up guidelines for using the medicine where it is feasible, he said.

“They have a unique opportunity to learn from a project like us,” he said.

The group, which won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize and is known as Doctors Without Borders in English, began giving the medicine to patients last month at its three clinics in Khayelitsha. Only about a dozen people are on the drugs so far, but the program will eventually treat 150 adults and 30 children, Goemaere said.

After Grace, 36, tested positive for HIV in 1999, her boyfriend left her and her health slowly crashed. She and her baby son, who is not infected, moved into a shack with a friend and the friend’s four children.

By the beginning of this year, she was so weak she could no longer do chores.

By May, she could not get out of bed.

“I thought I was going to die,” said Grace, who asked that her last name not be used because of the stigma AIDS carries here.

At the end of May, an ambulance brought her to the clinic.

Grace had never heard of antiretroviral drugs until Dr. Francoise Louis gave her a daily regimen of 3TC, AZT and nevirapine. Within four days, she started feeling better. Within a week, the feeling returned to her feet, and her mouth sores were gone.

She has started doing chores again and is beginning to take walks around her neighborhood.

“The tablets are very strong,” she said. “I’m feeling much better now.”

After watching Grace’s health slowly seep away, Louis is heartened by her recovery.

“It’s very moving, but it makes me angrier that everyone is not on this,” she said.

As Louis spoke, her thoughts kept returning to the tragedy, just two hours before.

A woman in her mid-twenties – in the final throes of AIDS – was inexplicably sent to the clinic instead of the nearby hospital emergency room. Dangerously dehydrated and beyond the doctors’ help, she sat in a wheelchair in the waiting room amid an expanding pool of her own diarrhea. Other patients, in tears, stroked her head and held her hand.

She died within 10 minutes.

Louis hopes the small project will eventually save millions of South Africans from that fate.

SAN FRANCISCO — A new line of business software introduced Tuesday by search engine maker AltaVista Co. will enable employees to scour corporate networks, e-mail accounts and personal computers by stitching together valuable – and sometimes embarrassing – information scattered on far-flung office systems.

AltaVista hails the new product as a desirable tool for increasing productivity. But a prominent computer privacy expert said it could backfire, hurting employee morale by making it easier to fish out personal e-mails and other sensitive data stored on hard drives. The software also could raise legal issues and create new security headaches.

“This could open a real Pandora’s box,” said Gregg Williams, an attorney who specializes in employment law for Fenwick & West in Palo Alto. “There are some private things on office computers that you really don’t want to know about.”

Palo Alto-based AltaVista says businesses will be able to tailor the software so certain areas of an office’s computing systems remain off-limits.

The number of employees able to search the master index also can be restricted. The software will use the same patented technology that has made AltaVista’s Web site one of the world’s most popular online search engines during the past six years.

The company said the search software received positive feedback in test runs by several companies, including Accenture, Putnam Investments, Factiva and Vertex Pharmaceuticals

By making it easy to retrieve information from a hodgepodge of computer servers, e-mail accounts and PC hard drives, the search software effectively creates a peer-to-peer network similar to the one popularized by the online music-sharing Web site Napster, which is battling to stay afloat after running afoul of copyright laws.

The AltaVista software is based on the premise that businesses operating in an information-driven era will be better off if more employees can sift through a community storehouse of data gathered from corporate intranets, workers’ e-mail boxes and PC hard drives.

AltaVista estimates 75 percent of all information on corporate networks and PCs are stored in formats that cannot be quickly searched like a database or spreadsheet. AltaVista said its software can search through more than 200 different computer applications and recognize 30 different languages.

Similar office search products have been made by Autonomy, Verity and Convera, but none have been quite as powerful or as easy to use as AltaVista’s new product, said Dana Gardner, research director for the Aberdeen Group, an industry analyst in Boston.

“This looks like something that really could be for the common good of businesses,” Gardner said. “One of the really annoying things for businesses today is the knowledge that they have all this great stuff in their computers, but it’s very difficult to get to it when they need it most.”

Creating a master index of all the information on a company’s central servers, e-mail accounts and PCs would tempt some employees to snoop for office gossip and possibly promote interoffice espionage among rival workers seeking to impress their bosses on important projects, said Richard Smith, chief technology officer for the Privacy Foundation in Denver.

“Indexing e-mail and hard drives and opening them up to general searches would be really dangerous. It would hurt both companies and their employees by damaging morale and distributing information never meant to be shared,” Smith said.

But Gardner contends the financial benefits of AltaVista’s search software overshadow any concerns about offending employees who aren’t supposed to be storing personal information on corporate property in the first place.

“For every person that gets a little embarrassed because some personal information gets passed around the office, there are going to be more people who are able to find important information that helps them close a sale with an important customer or build a better mousetrap,” the analyst said.

Having a central index, however, could place a greater legal burden on employers, attorney Williams said. For instance, an employee alleging harassment by another co-worker could demand an employer to search for incriminating evidence in e-mail accounts and PC hard drives.

And creating a central index isn’t practical for most companies concerned about protecting confidential information, said John Garber, chief strategic officer for Cryptek Secure Communications in Chantilly, Va. “This is white-tower stuff. There probably isn’t a company with more than 40 employees where all the employees should be entitled to see everything in a company’s computers”

CHICAGO — AT&T, the nation’s largest cable business, says it’s still committed to creating new and innovative interactive services delivered to consumers by TV.

What features it offers and when those hit the market will be driven by consumer interest and demand — not just the availability of technology, said company executives attending the National Cable & Television Association meeting here.

Just days before the start of the industry’s major trade show, AT&T decided it would scale back its plans to distribute advanced set-top boxes to customers. Instead, the company plans to continue rolling out a simpler set-top box that’s already in use by 3.5 million cable customers. That box is geared toward making programming and entertainment interactive. It can perform such functions as allowing consumers to access movies and videos whenever they want.

As for selling the next generation of boxes which can enable personal computer-like services, AT&T officials say that they must first gauge consumer interest and response.

“We will move to that when we are comfortable with the operational and consumer driven aspects of that,” said Dan Somers, head of AT&T Broadband, the company’s cable TV and Internet business. “Customers right now want easy applications.”

People are less interested in accessing the Web over television than in being able to interact more with the TV programming and video they get now, says AT&T Chairman C. Michael Armstrong.

“What people really seem to enjoy are fuller expressions of entertainment rather than simply bringing Web sites to the television set,” Armstrong said here Monday.

In addition, the company figured out that the existing set-top box could be used for a broader array of applications than originally anticipated.

The “technology is allowing (consumers) to do more today than we thought we could,” Somers said Tuesday. “We’re going to exploit that.”

AT&T’s decision has had a ripple effect at the show here, raising questions about the future of the service.

Microsoft Corp. – which makes the interactive TV software that was to have gone in AT&T’s more advanced set-top boxes – says it still believes in the technology, even if there are some minor bumps on the road to making it a reality.

“There has been a change of program, but we remain very much committed ... to helping interactive TV come true,” said Jon DeVaan, senior vice president of Microsoft’s TV division on Tuesday. “Microsoft is also strongly committed to the advanced set-top box.”

AT&T’s dropping of the Microsoft-enabled cable box was seen as a blow to the software giant, which invested $5 billion in AT&T two years ago.

DeVaan said that Microsoft has invested a lot money in the cable industry overall to help companies make the move to new, digital networks, and the final result of that still benefits his company, he said.

In keeping with a long tradition of activism, Berkeley’s Housing Department is asking the City Council to officially participate in a grassroots “blackout” protest of the Bush Administration’s energy polices.

“The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this recommendation was that it was not from a councilmember trying to promote themselves, but from a city department,” Councilmember Kriss Worthington said. “It’s a testament to Berkeley culture where activism is embraced throughout the city and its organization.”

If the resolution, written by Energy Officer Neil De Snoo and endorsed by Interim Housing Director Stephen Barton, is adopted, Berkeley will officially participate in a statewide protest that is being organized primarily through

the Internet.

Barton said he is unaware of any other municipalities that have officially adopted a policy supporting the protest.

The protest is aimed at the Bush Administration’s energy policies, which Barton says puts too much emphasis on fossil and nuclear fuels and not enough on conservation and alternate energy sources.

The protest is also aimed at state energy suppliers for abusive pricing practices, Barton said.

According to a posting on the Ecology Center’s Web site, the protest, known as the “Roll Your Own Blackout Campaign,” will take place on the first day of summer, Thursday, June 21. The posting, which does not include any information about the campaign organizer, calls for a voluntary blackout between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

The posting asks participants to “turn out your lights. Unplug whatever you can unplug in your house. Light a candle to the Sun God, kiss and tell, make love, tell ghost stories, do something instead of watching television, have fun in the dark.”

The Housing Department’s recommendation asks the City Council to urge citizens, businesses, institutions and municipal employees to participate in the protest.

“I think that’s fine,” said Mayor Shirley Dean. “We can get the information out through press releases, the city’s Web site and through neighborhood group e-mails.”

Barton said the city’s official participation would cost little and the city might even save some money by keeping the lights out.

Barton said most city offices are closed at that time so it would be no great sacrifice for the city to participate. “It’s not a particularly high-use time of day,” he said. “It’s when most people are home.”

Police spokesperson Lt. Russell Lopes said the public safety operations would not shut off power during the protest but may participate in a symbolic manner if the City Council asks.

Barton said another exciting aspect of the protest is that word is getting out on the World Wide Web. “There’s a lot of excitement about the Internet as a organizing tool,” he said. “It will be interesting to see how it works.”

Barton said traditionally the only organizations that have been consistently successful at statewide campaigns are large business interests and unions.

Barton said he didn’t think it was necessary to include suggestions for activities people could take part in while the television is off. “I think of all the places in the state, Berkeley has the least need of suggestions about what to do for a few hours without electricity.”

Ad-hoc subcommittee special meeting, discussion of a proposal to conduct a comprehensive, citywide survey of potentially historic resources.

705-8111

Alameda County Board

of Education

6 p.m.

Alameda County Office of Education

313 W. Winton Avenue, Hayward

Discussion of summer school for juvenile court and community schools.

Wednesday, June 13

Defining Diversity

7 - 9 p.m.

Ecology Center

2530 San Pablo Ave.

Different interpretations of biological and cultural diversity and how it’s used for very different purposes. 548-2220

Commission On Disability

Hearings

4 - 6 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst St.

Open forum, opportunity for public to present ideas and concerns about barriers for people with disabilities and accessibility of City facilities. Public comment on Berkeley’s proposed “Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan.” Also, naming I-80 overcrossing after Ed Roberts, requesting Congressional Representatives and Senators to add benefits for dental and eyeglasses coverage in Medi-Care.

981-6342

Lead-Safe Painting and Home

Remodeling

6 - 8 p.m.

Claremont Branch Library

2940 Benvenue Ave.

Free course on how to detect and remedy lead hazards in the home.

567-8280

“Illusions of the ‘New Economy’”

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Ave.

Talk by professor and author Dick Walker. $5 donation requested.

415-863-6637

Claremont Elmwood

Neighborhood Association

General Meeting

7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

St. Clement’s Episcopal Church

2837 Claremont Blvd.

Covers area of Berkeley south of Dwight Way and east of Collage Avenue. Presentations on neighborhood issues.

549-3793

Trees and Shrubs of

California

7:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

John Stuart and John Sawyer will be speaking about and signing their new book, “Trees and Shrubs of California.” Free. 643-2755

Library Board of Trustees Meeting

7 p.m.

South Branch Library

1901 Russell Street

Regular meeting, including a building projects update.

644-6095

Police Review Commission Meeting

7:30 p.m.

South Berkeley Senior Center

2939 Ellis Street

Regular meeting with a recruitment update and continuing discussion on marijuana arrests.

A group open to partners of those in transition or considering transition. Intake process required. Meeting Fridays through August 17. $8 - $35 sliding scale per session Call 548-8283 x534 or x522

— compiled by

Sabrina Forkish

City Commons Club, Luncheon and Speaker

11:45 a.m.

Berkeley City Club

2315 Durant Ave.

This week featuring Edward Fox on “Regional Development Plans of The Wilderness Society.” Come early for social hour. Lunch at 11:45 for $11-$12.25. Come at 12:30 to hear the speaker only for $1, students free. Reservations required for three or more.

848-3533

Saturday, June 16

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street

548-3333

Berkeley Arts Festival Music Circus

1 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Shattuck Ave. between University Ave. and Channing Way

The Music Circus will feature dozens of eclectic performances ranging from string quartets to blues and jazz. Free bus fare to and from the event offered by AC Transit. 665-9496. Free.

Botanical Garden Spring Party

3 - 6 p.m.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

Celebrating the completion of the new Arid House and the renovation of the Southern African area. Food, wine and jazz. Fundraiser for the Garden, $25 per person.

643-2755

Puppet Shows on Cultural and Medical Differences

1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Hall of Health

2230 Shattuck Ave. (lower level)

Two shows for kids of all ages and their families promote acceptance and understanding of cultural and medical differences. Free.

549-1564

Poets’ Corner

1:30 - 4 p.m.

Shattuck and Kittredge

Ten poets will read on the downtown street corner as a kick-off event for the two-week Berkeley Arts Festival.

649-3929

Energy Crisis

2 p.m.

6501 Telegraph Avenue

Oakland

“Why They Can’t Keep the Lights On and What We Can Do About It.” Graham Brownstein and other panalists provide information on the corporate rip-off sometimes referred to as the “energy crisis.”

I am writing to you to express my support for Temple Beth El’s request to construct a new Synagogue at its Oxford/Spruce Street site. I am a 28-year resident of Berkeley and have lived on Spruce Street in Betty Olds’ district for the last ten years and consider myself a neighbor of the proposed site.

In my years in Berkeley, I have been involved in a number of community projects. I served as a member of the Board of Directors of Save San Francisco Bay Association for two years in the early-90’s. I was a member of the Cragmont School Site Committee for three years between 1992 and 1995. I was the fund-raising chair for the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project campaign in 1994. I was elected and served as Chairperson of the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project Planning and Oversight Committee for four consecutive terms between 1994 and 1998. I served as Campaign Chairman for the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project Measure in 1998 and take pride in having convinced 92 percent of the voters of Berkeley to support the Measure. In addition, I spent hundreds of hours volunteering at various Berkeley schools while my children were in elementary school. These experiences have given me some insight into the real needs of Berkeley’s youth.

As a long-time Berkeley resident and an observer of Berkeley’s politics, I am not surprised to see that Temple Beth El’s plans have been opposed and that the opposition has seized on the Codornices creek as a vehicle to try to prevent construction of the new synagogue. I write to emphatically request that Temple Beth El be permitted to pursue construction of its new synagogue without further delay or cost. As a neighbor of the site, I believe that the impact on the neighborhood will be negligible. As a committed outdoorsman, I believe the opposition’s demand that the long-covered creek be daylighted is disingenuous. As a lawyer, I know the City Council does not have the legal authority to condition approval of the project on daylighting the creek.

As a devout Catholic, I understand the value and importance of communities of faith to our city, and particularly our children. Temple Beth El operates a number of excellent programs that provide our children with the spiritual support they need which they are not receiving from our other civic institutions.

It is a shame that Berkeley is not actively doing everything in its power to facilitate and assist Temple Beth El in relocating its facility so that it can expand its mission of attending to both the spiritual and worldly needs of its members and the greater Berkeley community. To put it bluntly, Berkeley needs active faith-based institutions considerably more than it needs to daylight long-covered creeks. Please use all of your resources and influence to help Temple Beth El with its mission of serving Berkeley and the greater East Bay. Please support Temple Beth El.

Jonathan S. O’Donnell

Berkeley

Beth El must address real issues

Editor:

Michael Ferguson in his letter to the Daily Planet (June 11, 2001) refers to the number of Beth El supporters who were present at the June 5 City Council hearing. He should also have included the school children whom Beth El bused in to serenade City Council members and also to the number of young people from the Congregation who appealed to Council on the basis of the value and worth of Beth El in their lives. Beth El has no difficulty in summoning vast numbers of its Congregation to appeal to the emotions of whatever city department happens to be considering its request at the time. However, this is exactly the problem: in appealing to the emotions, Beth El does not address the real issues. Until it does, no consensus can be reached and no progress can be made.

Carol Connolly

Berkeley

No answer, no vote

Editor:

Over two months ago I wrote to Dion Aroner, Democratic state assemblywoman, at her Berkeley office, suggesting a change in state law that would improve highway safety. Upon no reply, I called that office, once, twice, three times to different staff merely questioning whether my letter had been received. Two weeks thereafter, still no answer. Alarmed at the specter of Bush as president, although an independent voter, I had given money to the Democratic National Committee. They keep asking for more.

The Democrats lost the last election, not mainly because of Ralph Nader and Floridian ballot problems, but because of disarray and behavior mimicking watered-down Republicans. I didn’t vote for Nader; I did vote for Aroner, though I knew little about her. Now, after three strikes from her office, she’s out of my vote.

The two-party system should be abandoned, though the Green Party is an inadequate contender. The Dems and Reps, just figuring enough cash from wherever will fend off third parties, have no respect for their incumbents’ non-corporate, voting constituents’ wishes. What kind of representative government retains politicians whose offices cannot even tell a constituent whether they have received a letter from him?

Raymond A. Chamberlin

Berkeley

Non-owners hurt by tax system

Editor:

Without any disrespect, Mr. Vukelich’s letter (Forum, May 28) is characterized by false logic, false premises, and extreme bias.

First, Mr. Vukelich decries the diminishment of corporate taxes and the subsequent growth of personal income taxes – on this point I would certainly agree – this represents a transfer of wealth to corporate owners and stockholders and a reduction in responsibility for the social and environmental infrastructure that allows corporations, and society in general, to function. However, he causally relates this to the presence of the estate tax, because, he apparently argues, the estate tax destroys small businessman and farmers and encourages them to be swallowed by larger corporations. I assume an extension of his argument is that this phenomena has given corporations greater ability to also diminish taxes on corporate earnings and transfer the tax burden to average citizens and small businessman.

The analysis is shortsighted. I have no doubt that the phenomena that Mr. Vukelich describes is true, however, blaming the estate tax is not the answer, nor is the vanquishment of the estate tax the solution. While it may be true that small business people and farmers are disproportionately affected by the estate tax, the people who are really hurt the most by current tax policy, and the proposed extinguishment of the estate tax, are the vast majority of Americans.

When one looks at the total tax picture we see that the average wage earner is the person most hurt by our current system. All owners, whether small businessmen or corporate kings, benefit disproportionately. Mr. Vukelich and Sen. Feinstein both appear to share a common disregard for the average person and an uncritical support for business owners. I agree with Mr. Vukelich that small businessmen and farmers should not bear an unfair tax burden, but neither should wage earners. The elimination of estate taxes will further encourage the gulf occurring between 95 percent of Americans and the ruling elite. Mr. Vukelich worries about communism when there is a far greater threat of totalitarianism in this country.

Small businessman and farmers will be better served by a more progressive estate tax that redistributes wealth and supports average citizens to become more financially secure and politically active in their defense. This does not lead to the end of capitalism or the rise of communism. This would lead to an expansion of democracy and the protection of the rights of all citizens including small businessman and farmers. If a refined estate tax was coupled with a reallocation of income taxes to businesses rather than private citizens this phenomena would be further enhanced. Such a program could be carefully designed to provide both the benefits of capitalism and socialism. We don't have to live in an either/or world and we don't have to let passive investors or owners acquire the bulk of our nation's wealth and a monopoly on political power.

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” through May 2002. An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery.” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu

“More Matters of Life and Death” June 15 - 17, 8 p.m. The newest cycle of this series, “Iris, Blue, Each Spring,” tackles the joys and sorrows of growing older and is set to “Six Japanese Songs” by Margaret Garwood. Presented by The Ruch Botchan Dance Company in concert with The Mirage Ensemble. $12 - $15 Western Sky Studio 2525 Eighth St. 848-4878

“Dance Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity” June 16, 8 p.m. and June 17, 2 p.m. The annual repertory concert for the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance features over 100 performers of dance and music from the South Pacific, India, Africa and the Middle East. $5 - $15 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

Kalanjali in Concert June 22, 7 p.m. Kalanjali concludes its celebration of its 25th year in Berkeley with a special recital. Experienced dancers and young students, with guests from India including dancer K. P. Yesoda and the musicians of Bharatakalanjali. $6 - $8 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

“The Laramie Project” Through July 8, Wed. 7 p.m., Tues. and Thur. -Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Written by Moises Kaufmen and members of Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Moises Kaufman. Moises Kaufman and Tectonic members traveled to Laramie, Wyo., after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepherd. The play is about the community and the impact Shepherd’s death had on its members. $10 - $50. The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

“Romeo and Juliet” June 14 - July 14, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m. Set in early 1930’s just before the rise of Hitler in the Kit Kat Klub, Juliet is torn between ties to the Nazi party and Romeo’s Jewish heritage. $8 - $10. La Val’s Subterranean Theater 1834 Euclid 234-6046

“A Life In the Theatre” Preview June 13. Opens June 14, runs through July 15. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. David Mamet play about the lives of two actors, considered a metaphor for life itself. Directed by Nancy Carlin. $30-$35. $26 preview nights. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant 843-4822

Berkeley Film Festival, June 23, 1 p.m. Berkeley Arts Festival Gallery. Presnetation of Six films: The Good War, and Those Who Refused to Fight it (Judith Ehrlich and Rick Tejada Flores), Just Crazy About Horses (Tim Lovejoy and Joe Wemple), Los Romeros: The Royal Family of the Guitar (L. John Harris and Bill Hayes), In Between the Notes (William Farley and Sandra Sharpe) and KPFA On The Air (Veronica Selver and Sharon Wood). 2220 Shattuck 486-0411

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. All events at 7:30 p.m. June 12: Colson Whitehead reads from “John Henry Days”; June 13: David Sedaris reads from “Me Talk Pretty One Day”; June 14: Ana Menendez reads from “In Cuba I Was A German Sheperd”; June 15: James Ellroy reads “The Cold Six Thousand.” 845-7852

Cody’s Books 1730 Fourth St. All events at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise. June 14: Stephanie Brill talks about “The Queer Parent’s Primer: A Lesbian and Gay Families’ Guide to Navigating the Straight World”; June 16, 4 p.m.: Chris Raschka presents a talk and demontration for children, and paints the store front window; June 18 Sherman Alexie- The Toughest Indian in the world. 559-9500

Freight & Salvage June 23, 10 a.m.-noon Diane di Prima, beat poet and author of “recollections of My Life as a Woman”.

Simone Martel June 16, 2 p.m. Martel will read from her book “The Expectant Gardener: A Wise and Fun Guide to the Adventure of Backyard Growing” Barnes and Noble 2352 Shattuck Ave. 644-0861

Among the issues the City Council will consider tonight is a recommendation from the Public Works Department to continue a contract for revegetation of a section of Cerrito Creek in Albany.

The contract will be with Shelterbelt Builders, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $78,000 through the end of 2003.

The project is to repair the slope of the creek damaged during the construction of the Cerrito Creek sewer pipeline project. The damage occurred in Albany between Pierce and Adams streets.

The project, dubbed the Cerrito Creek Revegetation Project, was planned by a number of organizations including the University Herbarium of UC Berkeley and the Friends of Five Creeks.

The goal of the project is to plant strong populations of selected local native plants that will provide soil erosion and habitat protection.

The culture down under

The city manager is asking the council to amend a contract with the city’s archeological consulting firm, which has been retained to give the Public Works Department advice about projects in the West Berkeley Shellmound Area.

The archeology consulting firm, Garcia and Associates, is asking for an increase in contract fees of $26,000 for a total not to exceed $207,000 for the period beginning June 15 until the end of 2003.

The services are necessary because the city has landmarked areas in the Shellmound that are considered within the public right of way. Because of the historical status, the city has to meet state environmental guidelines. Normally the city does not have to abide by the California Environmental Quality Act when carrying out projects on the public right of way according to the staff report.

Protecting renters

Councilmember Dona Spring is asking the city attorney to write an amendment to the Berkeley Municipal Code that will make it tougher for landlords to evict tenants.

Spring wants the code to be tightened to “restrict code violations that are used as grounds for eviction to only those that constitute a genuine safety of health threat,” according to Spring’s written recommendation.

The amendments would also make it a violation for landlords to interfere with the delivery of services such as electricity, water, cable and Internet access.

Spring’s recommendation says that due to the Costa-Hawkins vacancy decontrol, “landlords now have an incredible financial incentive to try and get rid of tenants in rent-controlled apartments.”

The recommendation points to the example of a Berkeley landlord who, it said, recently ripped out one of his tenants’ telephone and cable lines, leaving him without fire prevention services.

Council’s budget recommendations

The council will make recommendations for amendments to the city manager’s budget proposals for fiscal year 2001-2002. The city manager will also answer questions about his May 9 presentation to council.

The two-year budget for fiscal year 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 is about $524 million, a 14 percent increase from the previously adopted two-year budget.

The council will hold a public hearing on the budget during its June 19 meeting and then adopt the budget on June 26.

Moratorium in the MULI

After being pushed back on the agenda several times, the moratorium on new office development in west Berkeley is on the agenda. The Planning Commission recommended the council enact a one-year moratorium on office development in the Mixed Use-Light Industrial District, also known as the MULI, in west Berkeley.

The staff report on the recommendation says the moratorium should remain in effect until the impact of the growing number of offices on blue-collar jobs, and on artists and artisans can be determined.

Another concern is increased traffic congestion posed by more offices. The council report, approved by Planning Commission Chair Rob Wrenn, said that about 349,000 square feet of office space has been developed in the MULI in the last three years.

Also on the agenda are:

• A transportation pass for city workers

• A passenger pick-up space at the downtown BART station

• Encouraging low income and market-rate housing in the city

• Asking the city manager to study a Sunshine Ordinance, improving on the state’s open meeting laws

In a move some hope will reverse a decline in the school district’s delivery of key services, the Board of Education approved an administrative structure change last week.

In essence, the board moved to bring all its separate departments such as facilities, maintenance, budget and fiscal services and nutrition services under the leadership of one high-level person who will report directly to the superintendent.

The new position, to be known as Associate Superintendent of Business Services and Operations, is expected to be filled some time this summer by incoming Superintendent Michele Barraza Lawrence. This gives the district’s new leader an opportunity to be involved in the selection of one of her most important lieutenants, said School Board President Terry Doran.

Under a reorganization carried out at the end of last year, the district had split its administrative departments into two separate chains of command, with some reporting to the associate superintendent of support services while others reported to a chief financial officer.

The board’s vote Wednesday eliminates these two positions, essentially reinstating the administrative structure that existed before the change last year.

Interim Superintendent Stephen Goldstone argued that last year’s change resulted in a “top-heavy” administrative structure where departments that needed to carefully coordinate their work were managed by separate individuals.

“The reorganization moves in the direction of combining related functions,” Goldstone said in a report to the board.

For example, under last year’s reorganization, the district’s Facilities Construction Department began reporting to one manager while its maintenance department reported to another, a move Goldstone and others said made little sense given the need to coordinate between maintenance and facilities’ departments to avoid duplication of efforts and other inefficiencies.

Nancy Riddle, a parent who sits on two budgetary advisory committees in the school district, said of the changes: “When I first looked at it I went, ‘Oh, thank goodness.’ Maintenance and facilities need to go hand and hand to be the most efficient and to make the best use of funds.”

A litany of complaints have been leveled at the district over the last year, including claims that it has failed to provide important educational materials to school sites in a timely manner, failed to provide adequate maintenance to school buildings, grounds and equipment, failed to assess and train teachers adequately, and failed even to give the school board the budget information it needed to make sound decisions.

“No one is blaming it on an individual or individuals, but we’ve had a system that is not working for a number of reasons and for a number of years,” said School Board Director John Selawsky late last week.

Some of the reorganization approved Wednesday could begin to get at some of these problems, according to school sources.

For example, the Data Processing Department, Technology Department and cable installing component of the Facilities Department will be combined into one Department of Technological Support, reporting directly to the superintendent.

School Board Vice-president Shirley Issel said such changes make it at least possible that certain key services provided by the central office will be improved. But Issel added that organizational changes alone won’t immediately erase problems that have become entrenched over time.

“The real meat of the thing is going to come in the implementation,” Issel said.

SAN QUENTIN — Glen “Buddy” Nickerson walked out of San Quentin State Prison a free man Monday, 17 years after he says he was wrongly sentenced to life in prison for two murders.

“I didn’t do it, and I’ve been saying it for 17 years,” Nickerson said after his release, hugging two attorneys who have fought to free him for the past five years.

A federal judge presiding over Nickerson’s innocence appeal believes he may not be guilty of the charges, and has ordered him released until court proceedings before her are concluded.

“I knew all along that he was wrongly convicted,” said Nickerson’s father, Glen Nickerson Sr., who waited outside the prison gate to greet Nickerson with a dozen other friends and family members.

Nickerson’s family posted the $500,000 bail before U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero, who urged the prisoner to abide by a litany of rules, including getting a job and staying out of trouble as his appeal before a different federal judge proceeds.

“I give my word, your honor,” Nickerson, 45, replied to the judge.

After his release, the tattooed Nickerson said he plans to “find a job and try to get my life back together.”

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel said June 1 that evidence before her “strongly suggest that the trial which resulted in (Nickerson’s) convictions was marked by suppression and destruction of evidence and perjury by the state’s investigators.”

State prosecutors objected to his release.

Deputy Attorney General Gregory Ott told Spero that “we are dealing with a convicted double murderer.”

Patel and Nickerson’s attorneys have complained since November that Santa Clara County and state prosecutors have dragged their feet in complying with orders to produce a host of documents and statements she has ordered in the case.

“We can drag this out when he’s not in custody,” Patel said during a hearing last month.

Nickerson’s lawyers have assembled new evidence casting doubt on his conviction for his role in a 1984 shootout that left two men dead and set off years of still-unresolved litigation.

Patel ordered prosecutors to file documents outlining what evidence they have that would contradict a host of new evidence that prompted his attorney, M. Gerald Schwartzbach, to declare Nickerson “an innocent man.”

Such evidence has not been forthcoming, Patel said.

The new evidence from Nickerson’s attorneys includes the recent arrest and filing of murder charges against a long-sought suspect who has been linked to the murder scene through DNA evidence, admitted he was there and told investigators that Nickerson had nothing to do with the crime.

Nickerson was convicted of the 1984 ambush shooting at a condominium in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County, between San Jose and Los Gatos. After an apparent botched drug deal, a gunfight broke out and John Evans and his stepbrother, Mickie King, were shot to death.

A third man, Michael Osorio, also was shot in the head, but survived to testify.

Authorities eventually convicted Nickerson and two others.

Evidence prompting Patel to determine that a jury would not find Nickerson guilty today includes the arrest two years ago of William Jahn, who was linked through DNA testing to one of the unsolved mysteries of the murder scene. Jahn’s trial is pending.

One of the three attackers had been wounded during the gunfight, and fled from the condo, leaving a trail of blood.

Jahn, picked up on a drug and weapons charge in San Jose in 1997, was matched to the blood trail; he also has scarring and metal fragments in his body from a gunshot wound.

Prosecutors charged Jahn in March with murder in connection to the Evans and King murders. Jahn, while in custody, told Nickerson’s lawyers that Nickerson was not involved.

Osorio, the surviving victim, testified that there were three attackers of average height and weight. At the time, Nickerson weighed 425 pounds. Jahn, however, fits the description given by Osorio, who nevertheless identified Nickerson as one of the assailants at trial, Nickerson’s attorneys said.

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gray Davis is getting his first glimpse of relief after months under the political cloud of soaring electricity prices and rolling blackouts.

A series of events – from plummeting wholesale energy and natural gas prices to the unexpected shift in the U.S. Senate – has left Davis declaring that the state has “turned a corner” in its power woes.

But politically, he still must weather the hottest summer months, the arrival of rising electricity bills at homes and a recent dive in his popularity ratings.

“Some irreparable damage has been done to his image and his popularity,” said Bruce Cain, director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Two statewide polls recently showed Davis’ approval rating plummeted to its lowest marks since he took office while electricity rates climbed.

Meanwhile, Davis fought to shed his image as a middle-of-the-road leader, adopting a new, confrontational style in dealing with the crisis.

He hired high-powered crisis control specialists Chris Lehane and Mark Fabiani, trained at the Clinton White House and in the Al Gore presidential campaign. He declared “war” on Texas-based energy wholesalers.

Davis also attacked the Bush administration for opposing price controls on wholesale electricity.

Soon after, the crisis-weary governor’s fortunes started to shift.

Vermont Sen. James Jeffords announced he would defect from the GOP, handing the majority and committee chairmanships to Democrats who favor price caps on wholesale electricity.

President Bush, who had been criticized for failing to visit the state since he took office, traveled to the state and met with Davis.

On a scorching afternoon in late May, the state came within the brink of blackouts, but dodged them.

The state Energy Commission announced that Californian’s had cut power use by 11 percent in May over the year before, which Davis called a personal victory because he has called for residents and businesses to conserve 10 percent.

Last week, the price of wholesale electricity and natural gas plunged to its lowest price in a year. Davis aides called that a direct result of Davis signing long-term contracts with energy providers.

“We may still have some difficult days ahead of us in the summer but it’s pretty clear that the governor’s strategy has now borne some fruit,” said Garry South, chief campaign adviser to Davis.

Still, the energy crisis has battered the governor once considered a potential presidential contender in 2004.

His state, heavily reliant on the fortunes of the technology sector to fill its treasury, is facing its toughest budget crunch in years.

Also, some experts said Davis has called a premature victory in the energy crisis. The state has yet to sell $13.4 billion worth of bonds to repay the state for power buys, and California still relies heavily on the spot power market to make up for electricity shortages.

California Republicans, meanwhile, are fortifying their campaign against Davis and the Democrats that control both houses of the legislature and all but one statewide office. The state party hired veteran consultant Rob Stutzman to counter Davis’ hiring of Lehane and Fabiani.

Stutzman worked for former insurance commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, who resigned under the threat of impeachment last year. Stutzman said Davis has little for which to take credit.

“The governor is like a little kid that breaks his mother’s china and then wants credit for gluing half of it back together,” Stutzman said.

In California, Davis’ short-term fortunes look better because of his fragmented opposition. He holds strong leads over the two Republicans who have announced they will challenge him, Secretary of State Bill Jones and Los Angeles businessman William E. Simon Jr.

Plus, Republicans in Washington and a large chunk of the state’s Republican congressional delegation have tried to lure outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan into the governor’s race, afraid that Jones and Simon lack the necessary star power to oppose Davis.

Whoever runs against Davis will find an incumbent with more than $26 million raised for next year and a team of campaign advisers already using focus groups and polling to gauge public reaction to the power crisis.

MARIPOSA — When his wife, daughter and a teenage friend failed to return from Yosemite National Park and meet at a San Francisco airport rendezvous, Jens Sund thought nothing of it and boarded a plane for Phoenix.

It was only after finishing a round of golf the next day that he began worrying, an anxiety that grew all day and lasted more than a month – until his worst fears were realized after the bodies of the three were found outside the park.

Sund was the first witness Monday in Mariposa Superior Court as prosecutors began presenting testimony against motel handyman Cary Stayner to see if enough evidence exists to charge him with murdering the three tourists.

Stayner, 39, already is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in federal court to murdering a woman who led children on nature walks in the park. He could face execution if convicted in state court in the triple murder case.

Carole Sund, 42, daughter Juli, 15, and family friend Silvina Pelosso, 16, of Argentina had gone to the park to witness the cascading waterfalls, soaring cliffs of granite and towering trees after Juli competed in a cheerleading competition in Modesto.

Seated only 10 feet from Stayner, Jens Sund avoided eye contact while testifying that the last time he saw the three women was when they left their Eureka home in February 1999.

Despite testimony of his worries, there was hardly a hint of the grisly fate the women met. The words “killings” or “murders” were not uttered by any of the 10 witnesses during the first of the preliminary hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Kim Fletcher moved methodically through testimony to build a foundation for her case, distilling the drama of the disappearances down to the mundane issues of how Cedar Lodge, where Stayner worked and lived, kept records of visitors, copies of receipts and how maids cleaned rooms.

Through the bland testimony, however, a more poignant image began to emerge: These were the last people to see the women alive and well. The clerks who sold them knickknacks at the gift shop and the waitress who served what must have been their last meal of burritos and burgers.

“I had the, uhhh, missing women,” testified waitress Barbara Jane Bonner. She worked at the Cedar Lodge restaurant and said she served the trio on the night of Feb. 15, 1999, when the Sund-Pelosso party was last seen alive. Jens Sund said he last spoke to his wife by phone at the lodge on Feb. 14.

They were supposed to meet Feb. 16 at the San Francisco airport so he could take Pelosso and his other three children to the Grand Canyon. Sund’s flight was delayed by bad weather, and when he arrived at the airport his wife was nowhere to be found.

“I thought maybe I had misunderstood Carole’s plans, so I just figured everything was fine,” he said.

Jens Sund went ahead and boarded the Phoenix flight without them and played golf the next day in Arizona. But as he continued to try to reach his wife, calling their home and leaving messages with in-laws, Sund said he became increasingly concerned. He flew back to San Francisco the next day and met his brother-in-law. The two then went to the Cedar Lodge to look for the three, to no avail.

Defense lawyer Marcia Morrissey, who had offered to waive the hearing and proceed to trial but was rebuffed by prosecutors, aggressively cross-examined witnesses.

She picked away at seemingly innocuous details and revealed conflicting testimony and inconsistencies in witness statements about the chronology of the tourists’ visit, the clothes they wore, and whether Silvina Pelosso spoke with an accent.

The hearing will likely result in two outcomes. Judge Thomas C. Hastings will determine if there’s enough evidence to proceed and, if so, prosecutors will reveal whether they will seek the death penalty.

Outside of court, Carole Carrington, the mother of Carole Sund, said she wants prosecutors to seek the death penalty if Stayner is convicted, referring to Monday’s execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Although what McVeigh did was terrible, she said it was less personal, more like a pilot dropping a bomb on a city.

LOS ANGELES — Acting under a new consumer protection law, state regulators have sent nearly 200 disputes between HMOs and patients to an independent review board, which has ruled in favor of the health plans 65 percent of the time.

A report – obtained by the Los Angeles Times but scheduled for release Monday by the California Department of Managed Health Care – is providing the first view of how recent HMO reforms have affected access to care and how consumer complaints are handled.

Since the independent review law took effect Jan. 1, the department has sent 195 cases to be reviewed by outside doctors with no stake in the case’s outcome.

The reviewers have rendered a decision in 168 of those cases: 110 have favored HMOs and 58 have gone to patients. The remainder are pending.

Consumer advocates and state officials hope the report will aid Congress as it debates national patients’ rights legislation this week that contains some elements, such as expanded rights to sue HMOs, similar to California’s law.

The health care industry has opposed patients’ rights legislation because it would enhance consumers’ rights to sue, which could lead to frivolous lawsuits and rising health care costs.

“Certainly we have not seen that happen” in California, said Daniel Zingale, director of the managed care agency, which regulates HMOs.

“And I would say that California’s laws are among the strongest in the nation” as far as protecting consumer rights.

Consumers can sue HMOs if they are dissatisfied with the review process. But state officials and consumer advocates said they are unaware of any such lawsuits being filed since Jan. 1.

Among private plans with more than 1 million members, the plans with the lowest complaint rates were Aetna US Healthcare, with 0.67 complaints per 10,000 members, and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, with 1.22 per 10,000.

Among larger plans, the highest rate of complaints were registered by Health Net, with 2.3 per 10,000, and PacifiCare of California, with 2.52 per 10,000 members.

Consumer advocates said it’s unclear what the scorecards mean without more data.

The report, for example, listed zero complaints against LA Care, a manage care plan that serves nearly 2 million members in Los Angeles County.

It was unknown how there could not be a single complaint lodged against the plan, Zingale said, but he speculated that frustrated patients may have lodged their complaints with another state agency.

Prison officials had set up protest zones for death penalty opponents and supporters, separating them with 400 yards of orange snow fencing and armed guards.

Authorities were prepared to handle 1,000 people or more, but only about 300 showed up – fewer than 100 in support of the death penalty and about 200 against it, said Jim Cross, executive assistant of the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute.

Their numbers were dwarfed by the 1,300 journalists on hand.

Unitarian minister Bill Breeden told the death-penalty opponents that the fight against the capital punishment would go on. “We must run with the chariot and continue this struggle until it stops,” he said.

Death penalty supporters let out a cheer and hugged upon hearing McVeigh was dead.

Organizers said the postponement of the original execution date of May 16, and the timing of the execution just days after the last court battle was dropped, contributed to the low turnout.

Earlier in the day, candles flickered as death penalty opponents, heads bowed, sat in a circle, silently mouthing the names on a list of the 168 victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. They remained silent for 168 minutes – one minute for each victim of the bombing.

Protesters on both sides held signs in the glare of television spotlights.

“What have we accomplished by executing Timothy McVeigh now that there are 169 people dead?” asked 49-year-old Bert Fitzgerald of Madison, Ind.

Both groups took buses from city parks to the makeshift protest grounds at the prison.

Russell Braun, 21, of Terre Haute, held a sign reading “Bye Bye Baby Killer.” He said he came to the prison to make sure the survivors were remembered.

“It has nothing to do with McVeigh,” Braun said. “The kids could have grown up and made a difference in this world, and they weren’t even given a chance.”

As much as his crime united the nation in shock, Timothy McVeigh’s death left Americans divided.

For many, there was certitude and satisfaction that justice had prevailed; others wrestled with moral doubts.

“When a society kills its killers, then we become a little bit more like them,” said Craig Hammond, director of a charity program in Bluefield, W. Va.

But from Doc Hardaway, who runs a shoeshine stand in Atlanta: “Like the Bible says, an eye for an eye.”

Although witnessed in person and on closed-circuit TV by barely 250 people, McVeigh’s death was a public event in a sense, a national execution.

In scores of communities – Albuquerque and Chicago; York, Pa., and Concord, N.H., among many others – people fumbled for a way to mark the occasion appropriately.

There were prayer services, vigils, subdued protests. A few catcalls directed at opponents of the death penalty.

A lot of introspection. Even a minor victory for civility:

\Two Los Angeles radio-show hosts canceled plans to bring an effigy of McVeigh to a bar so patrons could pummel it.

It was a wrenching day for many Americans, not least for those who seek to end all executions.

McVeigh never gave them ammunition for their arguments – no apology, no testimony of mental distress or an anguished childhood.

Even as she protested against the death penalty at the University of New Mexico, where demonstrators lit a candle for McVeigh and each of his 168 victims, Meg Gorham didn’t feel like pressing her case.

“Killing is not an answer to killing,” she said. But she also admitted that “I’m sure if my family were involved, it would be different.”

Similar modesty from Erica Thorneburg, attending a vigil outside the federal courthouse in St. Louis.

She wore a T-shirt opposing the death penalty, yet doubted she could articulate her views to families of McVeigh’s victims.

“I don’t know how I could explain it,” she said. “I don’t think it will ever make sense to them.”

How to make sense of McVeigh himself?

At his former church, in Pendleton, N.Y., a scattering of parishioners gathered at the hour of his execution.

“Everybody makes a mistake in his life – nobody’s perfect,” said Joseph Surdj, who once worked with McVeigh’s father at an auto plant.

Across upstate New York, 40 people gathered outside the state Capitol in Albany to pray for McVeigh and his victims.

“I do feel sympathy for him,” said Nicholas Barbara, 67.

“He’s an ex-Marine like I am, he’s a nice person.”

A different McVeigh was in the thoughts of William Dawkins, 69, a retired truck driver reading his paper on a bench near Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Like the majority of Americans, Dawkins supports the death penalty.

“I am glad to see it happen,” Dawkins said. “He could have cared less whether he killed one person or 100 people.”

Nor did the bomber win sympathy in Waco, Texas, site of the 1993 federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound.

McVeigh said he destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building in part to protest that incident.

“He’s not considered a martyr for us. I’ve never even met him,” said Clive Doyle, a survivor of the Waco siege.

Outside Junction City, Kansas, Mark Morgan – a Kansas State University professor – was camping at the fishing lake where McVeigh and Terry Nichols assembled their bomb.

Morgan knew about the bombers’ links to the lake, although his motivation Monday was to fish, not to mark McVeigh’s execution.

“For those who lost family and loved ones, it’s going to be a long painful road,” Morgan said.

SAN FRANCISCO — Rapidly expanding Peregrine Systems Inc. announced Monday it will buy rival Remedy Corp. in a deal that will unite two leading makers of software that helps companies identify and fix problems in their computer networks.

San Diego-based Peregrine will pay $275 million in cash and 27.9 million shares of its stock to take over Mountain View-based Remedy.

The sales price translated into $1.1 billion when the deal was announced early Monday, but the value fell to $987 million after investors dumped Peregrine’s stock on news of the sale. Peregrine’s shares dropped $3.30, or 11.5 percent, to close at $25.51 Monday in trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

The sale lifted Remedy’s recently slumping stock, as the company’s shares climbed $12.18, or 66 percent, to close at $30.52.

Monday’s deal continues a year-long shopping spree for Peregrine, a 20-year-old company that went public in 1997. Since June 2000, Peregrine has paid $1.76 billion in cash and stock to buy Harbinger Corp., Loran Network Holding Corp. and Tivoli Service Desk.

After the Remedy takeover, Peregrine’s CEO Steve Gardner will run the combined company, which will be based in San Diego. Remedy CEO Larry Garlick will have a seat on the combined company’s board.

Several hundred workers are expected to lose their jobs as management jettisons overlapping operations in an effort to save $40 million to $50 million annually.

Peregrine employs 3,000 workers and Remedy has 1,300 workers. Although the companies didn’t specify how many layoffs will occur, industry analyst Patrick E. Mason of Wit Soundview predicted 7 percent to 10 percent of the workers will lose their jobs, leaving the combined company with fewer than 4,000 employees.

“We will take the very best (workers) that we can from each organization,” Gardner said during a conference call with analysts.

Pending regulatory and shareholder approvals, Peregrine expects to complete the Remedy purchase in late August or early September.

Combined, the companies expect to generate annual revenues of more than $1 billion. Peregrine’s revenues totaled $565 million in its most recent fiscal year ending in March, while Remedy reported sales of $288.5 million last year.

The marriage will meld Peregrine’s strength selling to large corporations with Remedy’s focus on small to mid-sized businesses.

Because it targets smaller businesses, Remedy has been harder hit by the dot-com downturn than Peregrine. After losing $6.2 million in this year’s first quarter, Remedy laid off 7 percent of its work force in April.

NEW YORK — These are times that test not only the financial courage of investors but the nerves and credibility of financial advisers.

They have both been wrong – most of them – and are anxious now to dismiss even the memories of the recent and unlamented carnage and set their minds to the more comfortable prospect of a rising market.

But there’s a problem. The market isn’t listening.

It has come back a bit, but whenever it seems ready to launch a late-1990s type surge, up comes a warning from historians or a negative report from economists.

So, with the market failing to respond robustly, at least in ways investors have become accustomed to, and with forecasters and advisers unable to nudge it along as they did in the old bull days, what do you do?

You retreat to longer range thinking. You get philosophical. You seek explanations in history and numbers.

You go back to basics, says Jim Griffin of Aeltus Investment Management.

Basics such as earnings and discount rates, the fundamentals of business cycles, the lessons of economic policies and the like.

But even here there are problems.

“What we really know about such basics can’t be dignified as much more than speculation, hypothesis and folklore,” says Griffin.

If that sounds like capitulation, it is reinforced by his declaration that: “Much of the confident assertion of what is taken to be truth today is the nearly perfect obverse of what was taken to be truth a year ago.”

Seeking understanding, Griffin looks for it in epistemology, or the study of the nature and validity of knowledge, and concludes that “what we can’t know is just how and when a market bottom might be formed.”

Financial planner Jonathan Pond seeks truth less in short-term specifics and more in longer term forecasts in his report, encouragingly entitled

“Some happy news for my beloved, albeit beleaguered readers.”

First, he informs them, “We can look forward to longer and healthier lives.”

And that “investment opportunities will proliferate.” And that “the longer-term economic outlook is positive in the U.S. and overseas.”

Most encouraging of all, he reports that “Bear markets end and the rebound is usually substantial.”

But then he adds “if only we knew when declining stock markets end.”

Trained to believe in numbers and history, technical researchers at Salomon Smith Barney, have studied every discount rate cut by the Federal Reserve all the way back to 1914 and matched them against market action.

The task was rather prodigious, since no less than 18 series of reductions have occurred in that time, and most series contained multiple cuts.

For example, there were nine cuts in the one series of reductions between November 2, 1981 and December 15, 1982.

In most cases following the cuts, the markets got a hefty bounce.

This time around, the markets haven’t responded with the same buoyancy.

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — Muslim rebels claimed Tuesday that they killed an American hostage, one of more than two dozen captives they’re holding in the southern Philippine jungles. The military was skeptical of the report.

Abu Sabaya, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf rebels, said over Radio Mindanao Network that his group had beheaded Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif.

Sabaya threatened to execute one of the three Americans he holds at noon Monday, but delayed it when the Philippine government agreed to one of his demands, that a Malaysian negotiator be brought in to help settle the crisis.

But Sabaya said the threat was carried out because he felt the government was insincere. “We could see that they were fooling us around,” he said in the RMN broadcast.

“We have to verify this information and confirm, because you know, in the past Sabaya has said things like this and didn’t mean it,” Adan said.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Susan Pittman said officials were seeking information. “We are looking into the reports.”

Sobero’s younger brother, Alberto, said U.S. officials also told him that the report was unverified.

“I’m still hoping this is not true,” the Cathedral City resident said. “I ask the Philippine government to exhaust all efforts and continue a dialogue to get my brother back, and all the hostages.”

He added that only oldest of Guillermo Sobero’s four children, a 13-year-old daughter, knows that their father has been kidnapped.

Last year, the rebels seized several hostages and executed some Filipinos, but this was the first time they claimed to have killed a foreigner.

In his radio comments, Sabaya also threatened to kill other hostages. His group holds at least 25 Filipinos and to other Americans, Wichita, Kan.-based missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham.

“We chopped the head of Guillermo Sobero,” Sabaya told RMN. “They better hurry the rescue, otherwise there will be no hostages left.”

He said the killing occurred near the town of Tuburan and told the military: “Find his body.”

Sabaya demanded that former Malaysian Sen. Sairin Karno join the negotiating team. Karno helped mediate last year’s kidnapping crisis, where millions of dollars in ransoms were reportedly paid to bring it to an end.

The military has said no ransom will be paid this time. The rebels used the money last year to buy arms and speedboats used in the May 27 abduction of tourists, including the Americans, from a beach resort across the Sulu Sea.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered all-out war against the Abu Sayyaf.

Meanwhile, three Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed and three soldiers wounded in fighting Tuesday, said Col. Danilo Servando, spokesman for the military’s southern forces. He said the clash was near Lantawan town, the area where the hostages are reportedly held.

A day earlier, the rebels stormed a coconut and coffee plantation on southern Basilan island, burning down five houses and a chapel, then fled with 15 more hostages to go with the 13 people were already holding, the army said. Among the new hostages are two 12-year-olds.

Sabaya said Monday’s attack on the plantation was part of a counteroffensive against the military. He claimed he sent out teams of fighters Monday to “create another problem” after reinforcements arrived from the guerrillas’ base on nearby Jolo island.

The government has estimated the Abu Sayyaf has about 1,100 fighters in the southern islands. The military, citing intelligence reports, said about 20 Abu Sayyaf reinforcements had landed on Basilan.

The Abu Sayyaf says it is fighting to carve out an independent Islamic state from the southern Philippines, but the government calls its members mere bandits. Muslims are a minority in the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines but are a majority in the islands where the Abu Sayyaf operates.

This is the same group that kidnapped Oakland resident Jeffrey Schilling in August 2000. Schilling returned home unharmed in April.

Unsure whether to believe the worst, relatives of the U.S. businessman reportedly killed by Philippine rebels gathered at his home Monday, still hoping for the best.

“We don’t have any official news. We’re still hopeful he’s alive,” said Neuza Chiong, a cousin of Guillermo Sobero’s wife, Fanny.

Chiong, standing in front of Sobero’s home, said the hostage’s wife has decided not to comment until the family is certain of her husband’s fate. Meanwhile, journalists respected Chiong’s request to keep their vehicles away from the house to avoid alarming Sobero’s three youngest children.

“They think he’s on vacation,” Chiong said, adding that the children were asleep early Monday evening. “I’m not sure when we’ll tell them.” Sobero, a father of four, is a Peruvian native who makes a living waterproofing homes and decks.

Neighbors and family describe him as a friendly man who loves scuba diving and playing with his children. Yellow ribbons adorn trees in his quiet neighborhood east of Los Angeles.

Sobero, whose children are 2, 3, 6 and 13, moved to California with his family in the early 1980s.

He and his wife of seven years were divorcing when he was abducted from an island resort in the Philippines on May 27. His wife said afterward she didn’t know her husband had left the country, adding that he had only told her he was going to Lake Havasu, Ariz., to celebrate his birthday with some of his siblings.

Allison Johnson, chairperson for the Berkeley High School English Department, remembers the first day the writing coaches came to her class.

Suddenly, there they were: This neatly dressed cluster of nurses, accountants, carpenters, screenwriters, and other professionals, waiting patiently outside her classroom, wanting nothing more than to teach her students how to write.

For Johnson, it was a dream come true. But for many of the students, it was more like a nightmare.

“At first, they did not want to go [with the writing coaches],” Johnson said. “They were scared. They didn’t know what to expect.”

Until recently, most Berkeley High students had a better chance of being struck by lightning than having to sit one-on-one with an adult for a full class period. But that was before Berkeley resident Mary Lee Cole, an expert in designing educational programs, launched the Writers’ Room program this past March.

Emulating a program a New Jersey school district has used for nearly 10 years to tackle the racial achievement gap, Cole trained more than 50 volunteer writing “coaches” to work one-on-one with Berkeley High students once a week.

Since March, the coaches have worked with some 300 students at the school, most of them freshman. Whenever possible, the same coaches meet with the same students each week, working to build a relationship of trust and respect.

At a school where the average freshman English class can include everything from students who struggle with sixth grade level reading assignments to students prepared to write an insightful and cogent essay on, say, Dostoyevsky’s Notes from Underground, Cole said the Writers’ Room program provides a unique opportunity to customize the education experience according to the needs of individual students.

“We are in the business of personalizing the educational experience,” she said.

Berkeley High teachers work to personalize education as much as they can, but they frequently complain that, in classes that range for 20 to 35 students, there is only so much one teacher can do. Johnson said when it comes to something as vital as writing skills, which impact the students performance in virtually every class they will take at Berkeley High, the extra help teachers can offer often isn’t enough to overcome the deficits students have when they arrive at the school.

“I can look over their draft quickly, but I don’t have time to spend a whole period on one kid’s draft,” Johnson said.

“The English department feels this tremendous pressure [to bring student writing skills up to par],” Johnson added. “We know what we do affects them in all their classes.”

For some students, the Writers’ Room could be the extra help that keeps them from falling completely through the cracks, according to Johnson and Cole.

“A lot of kids come to Berkeley High and they just get completely lost,” Johnson said.

And if freshman year isn’t enough of a shock for those students who arrive at the school unprepared, the transition from freshman to sophomore year holds yet another cruel awakening, according to Cole.

Since average class sizes jump from 20 to 35 between the two years, students who had difficulty getting help they need as freshman are likely to give up altogether as sophomores, she said.

“If the kids are at risk at all, if they don’t have really strong skills … they just fade out,” Cole said.

By sitting down with students and helping them work through writing assignments detail by detail, the Writers’ Room coaches offer the kind of academic advice and moral support that keeps students from giving up, Cole said.

Many students already have a good start on the work by the time they meet with the coaches. In these cases, the volunteers help them correct grammar and spelling errors, or perhaps encourage the student to explore some ideas that he or she might not have come to on their own.

With other students, the tutors must start at ground zero, helping them to understand the assignment and trying to get them interested in the work.

Heather Skibbins teaches in Berkeley High’s Rebound program, created this January to give double period English and Math to some 50 freshman who had failed these core classes the first semester.

Skibbins said she has seen some students go from ignoring assignments altogether to turning in neatly typed essays, all through the intervention of a Writers’ Room coach.

“Some kids who didn’t even do [an assignment], [who] hadn’t engaged, … the next day they came to school with like a three page paper,” Skibbins said. “They are like, ‘Oh, I have a 100 things to say about this now, because this person has just made me realize all that I know about this.’”

Cole said getting students to truly engage in their school work is a big part of what the program is all about.

Many students have become convinced that they will always be poor students and that their homework is simply too difficult for them to even attempt, Cole said. But Writers’ Room coaches, through a casual conversation around the topic students have been assigned to write about, make it clear to students that they really do have a lot to say, she said. They help them get those difficult first sentences down on paper, and then a few more sentences, until suddenly the students are saying things like, “‘What? I wrote all that?’”

In some cases, all it takes to get a kid started is having an adult sitting across from them who is clearly interested in what they have to say, according to Writers’ Room coach Debbie Reynolds, the parent of a Berkeley High freshman.

“Our schools are somewhat like factories,” Reynolds said. “It’s not an environment where people are interested in what you’re saying or what you’re doing.”

“Your finding the things that they do right. Your giving them a chance to do something they feel good about,” she said.

Writing Coach Virginia Jardim volunteers at Berkeley High when she’s not working as an English teacher at the California College of Arts and Crafts. Jardim said Writers’ Room gets students out of classrooms where teachers are often struggling just to maintain control of the class, let alone getting students to absorb their lessons, and places them in a calm environment where they are truly free to focus on learning.

Furthermore, Jardim said, students in class with their friends are often at pains to maintain an image of coolness or aloofness. Once removed from their peers, they can give school work their best effort without fear of being labeled nerdy or slow, she said.

By all accounts, the Writers’ Room is already impacting the achievement gap at Berkeley High. English teacher Katherine Palau has seen her students raise the achievement by an average of one letter grade after working with Writers’ Room coaches. And the program’s popularity is on the rise with both teachers and students.

“I’d rather do this than waste my time going to a tutoring program,” said Berkeley High freshman Brad Kelly. “They’re usually packed anyway. This is better, because it’s more one on one.”

Cole said more and more teachers are clamoring to become involved in the program. She plans to train more writing coaches over the summer, including UC Berkeley students and some Berkeley High seniors. By next year Cole hopes to have 200 coaches volunteering an estimated 9,000 hours – enough to make Writers’ Room coaches available to all of Berkeley High’s 900 freshman and several 10th and 11th grade classes. She’s planning a Writers’ Room pilot program for King and possibly Willard middle schools.

In a year of budget cuts, finding program funding hasn’t been easy. Cole began the program with small grants from the Berkeley Public Education Foundation and the Berkeley High School Development Group. Since then she’s roped in small contributions from the Berkeley school district, The Berkeley Rotary Club and the Dreyer’s Foundation, among others.

But Cole said what makes the program possible is the simple fact that being a volunteer writing coach has vast appeal in a community like Berkeley, where there is no shortage of talented writers eager to help improve the public school system.

When it comes to reforming education in California, Cole said, “It’s not enough to have a great idea, you have to have a sensible idea that you can follow through on.”

To volunteer to become a writing coach, contact Wendy Breuer at 524-0249 or breuerw@aol.com. To contribute funds in any amount to the Writers’ Room program, send checks or money orders to the Berkeley High School Development Group (designating the Writers’ Room Program), at P.O. Box 5453, Berkeley, CA 94705-0453.

Ad-hoc subcommittee special meeting, discussion of a proposal to conduct a comprehensive, citywide survey of potentially historic resources.

705-8111

Wednesday, June 13

Defining Diversity

7 - 9 p.m.

Ecology Center

2530 San Pablo Ave.

Different interpretations of biological and cultural diversity and how it’s used for very different purposes.

548-2220

Commission On Disability

Hearings

4 - 6 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst St.

Open forum, opportunity for public to present ideas and concerns about barriers for people with disabilities and accessibility of City facilities. Public comment on Berkeley’s proposed “Americans with Disabilities Act Transition Plan.” Also, naming I-80 overcrossing after Ed Roberts, requesting Congressional Representatives and Senators to add benefits for dental and eyeglasses coverage in Medi-Care.

981-6342

Lead-Safe Painting and Home

Remodeling

6 - 8 p.m.

Claremont Branch Library

2940 Benvenue Ave.

Free course on how to detect and remedy lead hazards in the home.

567-8280

“Illusions of the ‘New Economy’”

7:30 p.m.

La Pena Cultural Center

3105 Shattuck Ave.

Talk by professor and author Dick Walker. $5 donation requested.

415-863-6637

Claremont Elmwood

Neighborhood Association

General Meeting

7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

St. Clement’s Episcopal Church

2837 Claremont Blvd.

Covers area of Berkeley south of Dwight Way and east of Collage Avenue. Presentations on neighborhood issues.

549-3793

Trees and Shrubs of

California

7:30 p.m.

UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

200 Centennial Drive

John Stuart and John Sawyer will be speaking about and signing their new book, “Trees and Shrubs of California.” Free.

643-2755

Library Board of Trustees Meeting

7 p.m.

South Branch Library

1901 Russell Street

Regular meeting, including a building projects update.

644-6095

Police Review Commission Meeting

7:30 p.m.

South Berkeley Senior Center

2939 Ellis Street

Regular meeting with a recruitment update and continuing discussion on marijuana arrests.

644-6716

Thursday, June 14

Summer Noon Concerts 2001

Noon - 1 p.m.

Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza

Shattuck at Center St.

Weekly concert series. This week Berkeley High Folklorico De Aztlan.

Camping and Hiking Slide

Presentation

7 p.m.

REI

1338 San Pablo Ave.

Guidebook author Tom Stienstra gives a slide presentation on where to go hiking and camping this summer in the Sierra and Shasta region. Free.

527-4140

Berkeley School Volunteers

10:30 a.m. - Noon

1835 Allston Way

Orientation for volunteers interested in helping in summer academic and recreation programs.

644-8833

Fair Campaign Practices

Commission Meeting

7:30 p.m.

North Berkeley Senior Center

1901 Hearst Street

Special meeting to discuss and act upon, among other items, possible violations of the Berkeley Election Reform Act.

Concerning the (ooops) who threw the little dog into the oncoming traffic:

Personally, this unmerciful living specimen — if sentenced to a jail term — should have his cell surrounded with “LARGE” pictures of this little dog. Somewhere in his lifetime he will be reminded of this sick act.

Alice Noriega

San Pablo

Reddy deserves more punishment

Editor:

You may know that the prosecutors in the Lakireddy Bali Reddy sexual slavery case have recommended to Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong that he receive the outrageously short sentence of only five to five and a half years of incarceration. Judge Armstrong on June 19 has the prerogative to sentence Reddy to a maximum of 38 years. Even this sentence is much lower than it should be were he being prosecuted for negligent homicide or for conspiring to murder 17 year old Chanti Prattipati and her 15 year old sister by failing to call an ambulance or paramedics to resuscitate them.

This is not a mere Bay Area matter. It is or should be of national concern. Write to Judge Armstrong ASAP! Urge her to sentence Reddy to 38 years:

Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong

Federal Building & Courthouse

1301 Clay St. #400 South

Oakland, CA 94612-5212.

Phone her at (510) 637-3559.

For further information and or materials for posting, contact Dr. Diana Russell at (510) 843-0680 or Marcia Poole at (510) 549-3345 or B J Miller at (510) 527-4582.

Helen Rippier Wheeler

Berkeley

Beth El article missed two

critical points

Editor:

Your article on the City Council’s hearing about Congregation Beth El’s plans to build a new synagogue said that about 440 people attended — a record high according to Mayor Shirley Dean.

You did not point out that about 85 percent of the people present came to support Beth El. This crowd included Berkeleyans of all ages and ethnicities, representatives of many groups that benefit from Beth El’s community services, more than a dozen clergy of various faiths, and neighbors of the Oxford Street site who favor the synagogue’s plans. It was an unprecedented outpouring of support from a diverse group of Berkeley citizens.

The Daily Planet’s article also mentioned and pictured signs displayed by opponents of the project. But it ignored the larger number of signs held by Beth El backers that read “For Kids and the Community — Congregation Beth El,” a statement of the congregation’s mission and priorities.

Your article quoted a speaker expressing concern that the creek could never be daylighted if the project is built as designed. You did not, however, quote the expert who showed how the creek could be daylighted without changing Beth El’s building plan.

I know it is difficult to include all pertinent information about such a complex subject, and your article was generally accurate and balanced. But it seems to me that leaving out the dramatic difference in the level of attendance by the opposing sides and the impressive presentation on daylighting were serious omissions.

Michael Ferguson

Berkeley

Tritium will not harm Berkeley

Editor:

In two recent public meetings Berkeley citizens have heard the results of the latest safety evaluation of the Lawrence Lab Tritium facility. Mr. Bernard Franke, the principal investigator, reported that he found no evidence that tritium exposures have ever reached the safety limits for tritium set in the Clean Air Act. In a personal endorsement of the safety of the tritium lab, he said if he had children he would allow them to use the nearby Lawrence Hall of Science. He noted that reports of his comments on potential fire hazards had been exaggerated, and he praised LBL for their cooperation.

Once again we are reaching the end of an investigation which has produced the same general results as the five preceding studies.

McKone, Brand, and Shan (1997): the maximum yearly radiation dose to a member of the public from tritium is 0.13 mrem, less than the additional cosmic radiation received during an airplane flight from Oakland to Los Angeles. This is an insignificant fraction of the 200-260 mrem we get every year from background radiation in the Bay Area. This report was approved by the California department of Health, U.S. Public Health Service, and Environmental Protection Agency.

Straume (1998): the risk of dying from tritium emissions for residents living near LBL is approximately one out of 10,000,000 per year, about half the risk of death from the bite of a venomous animal. For the rest of Berkeley, up to two kilometers from the lab, the risk is about one-tenth of that.

U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances (1999): reported no excess health risk for nearby residents. They noted “no indication of an unusual occurrence of cancer cases among the population of the LBNL area” and no contamination of drinking water. Regarding infertility, they noted that the doses required to affect reproductive capacities were “several orders of magnitude higher than the radiation doses received from tritium released from LBNL.”

National Center for Research Resources (1999): reported that risks were “exceedingly small. … the maximum lifetime dose, due to tritium emissions from the NTLF, to a (hypothetical) individual both living and working for his/her entire lifetime at the perimeter of the NTLF is less than 1 mSv. For comparison, the lifetime dose from natural sources (radon, cosmic rays, etc) is about 250 mSv.”

Senes Center for Risk Analysis (2000): exposures were "far below dose and risk limits established for the protection of public health." One of the authors commented that in his entire career assessing radiologic risk he had never seen an instance where the concern was so high and the risk was so low.

Thus, we have had six studies, all indicating that the operations of the tritium lab pose no threat to Berkeley. (This is my personal opinion; neither the Toxics department nor the Environmental Commission has taken a position.) The city has responded generously to the citizens concerned about tritium. Hundreds of hours of staff time have been expended by the Toxics department. The studies conducted by Straume and Franke were paid for by the city. In fact, Straume was hired to do his evaluation at the urging of the CMTW, the group opposing the lab. However, they were dissatisfied with his report and suggested another consulting firm; the Franke study was actually done by that firm’s sister organization. It appears that they are equally disappointed in Franke and, despite six negative studies, continue their efforts to close the tritium lab.

Competent investigators from universities, risk analysis organizations, public health departments, the EPA, and the National Center for Research Resources have found no reason for Berkeley citizens to live in fear of the tritium labeling lab up the hill. Perhaps the time is coming when Berkeley can finally take tritium off its agenda.

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” through May 2002. An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery.” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history. “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu

“More Matters of Life and Death” June 15 - 17, 8 p.m. The newest cycle of this series, “Iris, Blue, Each Spring,” tackles the joys and sorrows of growing older and is set to “Six Japanese Songs” by Margaret Garwood. Presented by The Ruch Botchan Dance Company in concert with The Mirage Ensemble. $12 - $15 Western Sky Studio 2525 Eighth St. 848-4878

“Dance Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity” June 16, 8 p.m. and June 17, 2 p.m. The annual repertory concert for the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance features over 100 performers of dance and music from the South Pacific, India, Africa and the Middle East. $5 - $15 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

Kalanjali in Concert June 22, 7 p.m. Kalanjali concludes its celebration of its 25th year in Berkeley with a special recital. Experienced dancers and young students, with guests from India including dancer K. P. Yesoda and the musicians of Bharatakalanjali. $6 - $8 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

“The Laramie Project” Through July 8, Wed. 7 p.m., Tues. and Thur. -Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Written by Moises Kaufmen and members of Tectonic Theater Project. Moises Kaufman and Tectonic members traveled to Laramie, Wyo., after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepherd. The play is about the community and the impact Shepherd’s death had on its members. $10 - $50. The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

“Romeo and Juliet” June 14 - July 14, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m. Set in early 1930’s just before the rise of Hitler in the Kit Kat Klub, Juliet is torn between ties to the Nazi party and Romeo’s Jewish heritage. $8 - $10. La Val’s Subterranean Theater 1834 Euclid 234-6046

“A Life In the Theatre” Preview June 13. Opens June 14, runs through July 15. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. David Mamet play about the lives of two actors, considered a metaphor for life itself. Directed by Nancy Carlin. $30-$35. $26 preview nights. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant 843-4822

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts and Paintings. Through Aug. 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541

“The Decade of Change: 1900 - 1910” chronicles the transformation of the city of Berkeley in this 10 year period. Thursday through Saturday, 1 - 4 p.m. Berkeley History Center, Veterans Memorial Building, 1931 Center St. Wheelchair accessible. 848-0181. Free.

Cody’s Books 2454 Telegraph Ave. All events at 7:30 p.m. June 11: David Hajdu talks about “Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña and Richard Fariña”; June 12: Colson Whitehead reads from “John Henry Days”; June 13: David Sedaris reads from “Me Talk Pretty One Day”; June 14: Ana Menendez reads from “In Cuba I Was A German Sheperd”; June 15: James Ellroy reads “The Cold Six Thousand.” 845-7852

When Ralph Samuel’s parents put him on a plane from Nazi-occupied Germany to London more than 60 years ago, he thought it was the beginning of a great adventure. And in a sense, it was.

In a story he told to people at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center yesterday morning, Samuel, spoke of being one of 10,000 children saved during World War II during an operation called Kindertransport.

“All of us were under 17 and had no idea of where we were going. We were all very excited because the kids did not know what we were in for,” Samuel, 69, said.

The children became part of foster families in Great Britain and many of them never saw their parents again.

“Jewish parents in upper and middle class families were willing to put their children on a train, or in my case an airplane, with the absolute understanding that they would never see them again,” he said. “There was an understanding that they would survive with the knowledge that they themselves would not.”

Nazi persecution of Jews began Nov. 9, 1938, on “Kristallnacht,” or Night of the Broken Glass, when mobs destroyed synagogues, smashed Jewish stores, and beat up and humiliated Jews.

Soon after, the Refugee Children’s Movement began in London. That movement assured that thousands of Jewish children would be saved. At the age of 7, Samuel arrived in London from Dresdon, Germany in January of 1938 to stay with the family of Samuel Epstein. Samuel learned that Epstein selected him for sponsorship because his last name was Epstein’s first, and Ralph was the middle name of Epstein’s son Peter.

“I came with a placard held with a piece of string around my neck to be collected by Mr. Epstein. I arrived like a package,” Samuel said.

His mother was hired as Epstein’s maid in March of 1939 and soon stayed with him. The Epsteins were very traditional, and while Samuel was allowed to eat in the dining room, his mother had to eat in the kitchen because she was considered hired help and not family.

Within three months, Samuel was speaking English.

When Great Britain entered the war and the bombing of London began in September of 1939, Samuel was evacuated with 3.5 million other British children to Guilford. His mother soon followed and they stayed until after the war.

In 1942, his father sent his last letter from a holding camp in Dresdon. In March of 1943, his father went to Auschwitz and was killed.

Samuel’s mother did not tell him about his father’s death until after the war was over and he was 14.

“It was very interesting. We got a Red Cross letter and I remember my mother calling me into my room. She said, ‘Your father has died. You have to be a good boy,’” he said.

After the war, the other children went back to London, but Samuel stayed in Guilford with his mother. Until later, he lost contact with the Epsteins.

In 1958, at the age of 27, Samuel came to the United States. He married and has two children. He worked in property acquisitions for Bay Area Rapid Transit and the East Bay Park system. He helped found the NorCal Chapter of the Kindertransport Association and has organized reunions.

The majority of people who survived the holocaust because of Kindertranport have benevolent professions, Samuel said.

“A very high percentage of kinder [German children] went into the helping profession. I did real estate but only for public agencies and when we have our reunions, everyone is a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker,” he said.

For the past year, Samuel himself decided to begin recounting his experience to school and community groups so that other generations can learn. That connection, the Point Richmond resident said, is very important.

“It’s absolutely vital because, as I tell the high school kids I talk to, you are the last generation to hear the story first hand,” he said. “World War II is not the same time of the dinosaurs. I was there and I lived it.”

The City Council will consider competing transportation recommendations Tuesday that will, if approved, be the first significant step towards discounted public transportation for city employees.

The proposed transit policy, known as the Eco Pass Program, would allow city employees to present a pass and ride AC Transit on any of its routes. The cost for the city-funded program has not yet been determined but supporters estimate it will be between $108,000 and $144,000 a year.

A similar program known as the Class Pass has already been established for UC Berkeley students.

There are two Eco Pass recommendations on Tuesday’s agenda. One is from progressive councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Linda Maio and the other from centrist Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmember Mim Hawley.

The major difference between the two recommendations is one of procedure. The Worthington/Maio recommendation calls for the Eco Pass to be approved immediately on a one-year trial basis.

“This is something we can do now,” Worthington said. “We’ve been talking about this for at least three years, it’s time we do something practical.”

The Dean/Hawley approach is more deliberate. It requests the city manager research the possibility of including Berkeley Unified School District employees and issue a feasibility report to council on costs, estimated participation and effective methods of administration.

“Nothing can happen immediately,” Hawley said. “We’re going to have to work out a lot of details with AC Transit, look at what will be the best way for the city to handle the program administratively and work out a the pass itself so there’s less chance of them getting passed around to people not employed by the city.”

Worthington suggested employees use their city-issued identification cards as passes.

“The simplest way is to use the city’s name badge that already has a picture of the employee on it.” he said. “The good thing about that is the city doesn’t have to create another.”

Hawley said another issue AC Transit will have to work out is whether to add more buses to established routes during peak hours to handle increased ridership. She said if they do, it would affect the cost of the program.

Hawley said the Class Pass model will be helpful in establishing a city employee program. The Class Pass allows UC Students to take AC Transit for approximately $10 per semester, according to Hawley. Students pay at the beginning of the semester and pick up a pass that allows them to board any AC Transit bus.

“That program has been remarkably successful,” Hawley said.

Several cities and counties, including Santa Clara County and Denver, have established successful Eco Pass programs

Both Worthington and Hawley estimate the cost to be between $60 and $80 per employee each year. The city would pay for each one of its 1,800 employees whether they ride AC Transit or not.

Ultimately the city would like to establish an employer-based Eco Pass program that would allow everyone who lives and works in Berkeley ride AC Transit and Bart at discounted costs. That program would likely be funded partly by Berkeley’s employers, partly by employees and partly by the city.

“It’s important we get this program going for the city’s employees,” Worthington said. “We can’t very well go to businesses and ask them to start an Eco Pass program if the city isn’t willing to do it for its own employees. This will be a great example.”

Planning Commission Chair Rob Wrenn said he has been pushing this program for four years.

“This is an important idea that makes sense,” he said. “I just hope the councilmembers can work together to get it done.”

Note: The actual portion of the Class Pass fee that goes to AC Transit is $10 though students pay $18 per semester. The difference goes to a several programs that are not related to transportation. Students pay that cost so the program is not free.

SAN FRANCISCO — Bay Area transportation officials decided Friday drivers should not have to hand over an extra buck at Bay Bridge toll booths.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission rejected a plan to charge drivers $3 to cross the Bay Bridge span. The commission’s decision came despite soaring cost estimates for building a new Bay Bridge eastern span.

Ultimately, only legislators can institute a toll increase. Still, the commission pushed for several alternative funding methods. 0fficials planned to ask the state for more federal funds and a loan for seismic retrofitting.

The motorists’ share would come from the permanent extension of the $1 seismic surcharge, which was set to end in 2007.

The state’s part would come from federal money received for highway bridge repairs. That would bring the split cost for bridge repairs to $1.6 billion for motorists and $1.31 billion from the state.

The Berkeley Public Library is sponsoring a summer reading program for high school students, its twelfth such program this year. The program, called Cover to Cover, will run from June 18 to August 18, and is open to teens ages 13 through 18.

Cover to Cover has won a national award for promoting reading and writing among teens, according to a PTSA press release, who are required to read ten books or 1,500 pages in the three month program. Each student is to write a review for each book which must support the rating the student assigns to the book.

Raffles, prizes, contests and potential publication in the annual Cover to Cover collection are among the incentives. The Berkeley Public Library offers teen reading recommendations at www.infopeople.org/bpl/teen/ but the students are also free to read anything of their choice. Teens can sign up or receive more information at any of the five Berkeley Public Library Locations.

Nationally, thieves tap into electric lines and steal up to $4 billion a year, according to the International Utilities Revenue Protection Association.

Average monthly power bills are expected to increase 37 percent to coincide with a rate increase approved last month by state regulators, which add more power thieves.

“As the utility price increases, the financial incentive for people to tamper with or try to reduce their electric bill through improper methods increase,” said Wayne Wohler, a board member of the Western States Utility Theft Association.

Wohler said have been electrocuted while tampering while trying to steal electricity. He said some find ways to slow down logging devices on their meters or bypass the meter altogether.

CAMARILLO – Gasoline prices tumbled 3 1/2 cents per gallon in the past three weeks, easing concerns of a summer shortage, an analyst said Sunday.

The average retail price of gasoline, weighted to include all grades and taxes, was about $1.73 on Friday, down 3.48 cents per gallon since May 18, according to the Lundberg Survey of about 8,000 gas stations nationwide. It was the first price drop since March.

Prices dropped despite the Memorial Day weekend, the traditional start of the summer season when driving — and thus gasoline demand — reaches its peak.

“There was never any gasoline ’crisis,’ and I still maintain that for this summer there will be none,” analyst Trilby Lundberg said in a statement. “Supplies appear sufficient to keep prices stable, or slightly lower, for the near future.”

Prices soared in April, “but refineries completed seasonal maintenance work and cranked up production well in time for the first real pull on supplies by vacationing motorists,” Lundberg said.

Prices fell around the country but the largest declines were in the Midwest, where they had been highest. The price of regular self-serve gas fell 15 cents per gallon in Chicago, which previously had the highest average price.

LOS ANGELES – As power bills soar throughout California, affordable housing advocates fear there could be a devastating impact on low-income housing developments and their private landlords.

The problem could impact hundreds of thousands of rent-restricted housing units — nonprofit and for-profit alike, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

And it comes at a time when the state’s low-income housing shortage already has reached crisis proportions.

“If something is not done quickly it’s going to affect the financial integrity of our projects,” said Ana Baiz-Torres, executive director of the nonprofit Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee Project in San Diego. “If you look a few years out, it’s potential catastrophe.”

The organization owns the Mercado Apartments, which is subsidized housing where utility costs are factored into rents. The rents are capped and cannot be raised, forcing landlords to shoulder the burden of skyrocketing energy costs.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, who heads the state’s Tax Credit Allocation Committee, has asked his staff to study the problem and look for potential solutions.

“These are very tough projects to put together, and this will make it tougher,” Angelides said. “What would be a tragedy would be to stand by and watch some good affordable housing projects not make it financially.”

The state committee awards federal tax credits to low-income housing developers, who then partner with private investors. Those investors pump a one-time equity injection into the project and get a 10-year tax write-off in return.

Already, the committee has added criteria to its selection process to give competitive advantage to energy-efficient projects. Angelides, however, said more radical measures may be necessary to stem serious damage to the industry.

The energy crisis is affecting all areas of government-assisted housing, from tax-credit properties like the Mercado, to public housing projects, to the Section 8 federal subsidy program. State officials and housing advocates estimate the number of such units in California to be 300,000 to 350,000.

“It becomes the worst of all worlds,” said Tim English, chief financial officer of Los Angeles-based Alpha Property Management, which manages about 2,500 units in Los Angeles County. “Here we are in a very regulated business and one of the key cost components is going to be deregulated. We’re stuck with fixed rents and unfixed utilities.”

Some limited remedies are in the works. Last March, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded one-time emergency funds to certain housing authorities — including Los Angeles — to help cover higher energy costs at public housing projects.

Another solution would be an appropriation of federal or state funding to help building owners meet operating costs, said Julie Bornstein, director of the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

But some say the chances of such a bailout are dim.

“This is like dealing with a cancer. There’s no good way to treat it,” said Jeffrey Burum, executive director of the nonprofit National Housing Development Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco Chronicle executive editor Phil Bronstein underwent foot surgery after being attacked by a Komodo dragon at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Bronstein was on a private tour of the zoo Saturday when he entered the Indonesian lizard’s cage. The zookeeper had asked him to remove his white tennis shoes to keep the 5-foot-long reptile from mistaking them for the white rats it is fed, Bronstein told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bronstein was able to pry open the reptile’s mouth and escape through a small feeding door in the cage while the zookeeper distracted the dragon, Stone said.

Bronstein was in stable condition Sunday at a Los Angeles area hospital after undergoing surgery Saturday to reattach severed tendons and to rebuild his big toe that was crushed by the dragon’s jaws, Stone told the Chronicle.

He is expected to remain in the hospital until Monday, said Chronicle spokesman Joe Brown.

“He sounded in good spirits,” Brown said Sunday. “He did say he’s fated not have a boring life.”

The tour was arranged as a Father’s Day surprise for Bronstein, who had always wanted to see a Komodo dragon up close.

“We’re very grateful for the professional care of the people at the hospital,” Stone said. “And we certainly don’t blame the people at the zoo.”

The endangered dragons are not venomous, but are considered poisonous because several strains of septic bacteria are found in their teeth and saliva, said Los Angeles Zoo spokeswoman Lora LaMarca.

Bronstein was given antibiotics and will be monitored for infections. The dragon was not injured in the incident.

The aggressive lizard, which is known to kill members of its own species, is native only to Komodo Island and a few neighboring islands in Indonesia. It can grow up to 12 feet and weigh 300 pounds.

SANTA ANA – A Vietnamese refugee is under federal investigation amid allegations that he killed a fellow inmate while serving as trusty at a communist “re-education camp.”

Thi Dinh Bui, 60, of Orange Grove, is a former South Vietnamese army captain who spent 1975 to 1981 in the Thanh Cam camp near Hanoi after the end of the Vietnam War.

Another refugee, the Rev. Andrew Nguyen Huu Le, contends that Bui kicked him unconscious. The Roman Catholic priest also said in a signed affidavit to immigration officials that he saw Bui kill a man.

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service is investigating the allegations.

Some want Bui deported if the allegations are upheld, but his fate would be unclear because the United States has no extradition treaty with Vietnam.

Bui, a father of nine, came to the United States in 1994 and now delivers newspapers as an independent contractor for the Orange County Register. He admits that he struck inmates but denied severely beating or killing anyone.

“The people I work with, how can I look at them in the face if I did? They know that I am a good man.”

The prison guards “gave me the job — chose me — so I took it,” he said. “My method of working was to help everyone at the camp, and to help them return to their families as soon as it was possible.”

He did confiscate food that prisoners smuggled back from field work, he said.

“The reason a number of prisoners — brothers in the camp — didn’t agree with me or hated me is because of the inspections,” Bui said. “They would bring stuff, hide stuff, and I’d usually take it away.”

The priest contends that in 1979 he and four cellmates chipped a hole in the wall and fled camp, but were caught the next morning. Bui kicked him until he passed out, he said in the INS affidavit.

“Bui dragged me by my legs up the stairs to the solitary confinement room, banging my head against the steps,” the priest wrote. “He threw me into a room and left me there; he thought I was dead. He then proceeded to beat Maj. Tiep Van Dang to death. I personally witnessed this brutal murder.”

Bui denies he hit anyone that day but only picked up the men that the camp guards had beaten, including the priest.

“I wanted to carry him over my shoulder,” Bui said. “But the guards wouldn’t let me. And they yelled at me, ‘Why carry him? Drag him.’ So I dragged him.”

Nine other former inmates told the Register that they saw Bui beat prisoners but not kill anyone.

The priest met with Bui once in 1996 and they prayed together. The same year, Le wrote a memoir of his life in the camp that made the accusations against Bui.

The memoir was sent to the priest’s friends and was circulated to refugee activists as e-mail.

Last year, activist Thang Dinh Nguyen of Washington filed a complaint demanding Bui’s deportation on the grounds that he committed crimes against humanity.

The sister of the man Bui allegedly killed also wants him deported.

“He is a cruel animal, not a human being,” said Nham Dang, 58, of Arlington, Va. “Like with World War II, if those who killed Jews came to the United States, you wouldn’t accept them. I think (Bui) has done a similar crime.”

The priest who allegedly witnessed the killing said he has struggled to forgive Bui.

“If the court calls me, I will tell the truth,” he said. “But I will ask for a pardon for him, especially for his family.”

SACRAMENTO – Californians, like all Americans, go to pharmacists more than ever, but for more than a year the state’s regulators have not conducted the investigations needed to watch over the rapidly changing industry.

That changes this month, as state regulators resume the undercover inspections they dropped them more than a year ago. These surprise visits, common practice in almost every state, should highlight careless pharmacists, overworked technicians and confused patients, Board of Pharmacy officials said.

California must do more oversight, because more people go to pharmacists, said Frank Palumbo, director of the University of Maryland’s Center on Drugs and Public Policy. By 2004, Americans are expected to take 4 billion prescriptions, a 33 percent jump from current levels.

After an October incident, Gertrude Krull, an 88-year-old resident of Chico, needs no study to tell her the state must inspect more. In October, Krull sent her daughter to get her prescriptions authorized by a new doctor.

Krull took one pill, collapsed and was rushed to the emergency room. There, doctors determined she had taken Mysoline — a seizure medication — instead of her heart pills.

Her chain drug store explained the pharmacist was filling two prescriptions for a Gertrude and assumed they were for the same person, although different last names were on the order.

The great-grandmother spent seven hours in the hospital waiting for her body to expunge the drug.

“Nobody should have to go through that. I’m thankful there are no after effects,” said the white-haired woman, who spends her spare time sewing stuffed rabbits for loved ones.

“I’m afraid there is no safe place to go anymore.”

In recent years, the Board of Pharmacy, the state’s investigator of pharmacies, has had a tough time doing its job. The renewed inspections come as the board has been hammered by bad performance reviews. A recent state auditor’s report cited a backlog of investigated complaints that was seven years’ deep in some cases.

Investigators, the report said, had “gross inefficiencies” in resolving complaints about potentially dangerous pharmacies. It also accused the department of circumventing federal overtime laws.

Investigators moved from surprise inspections to handle complaints, but low pay and the intense workload made it hard to keep and attract more investigators, Herold said.

At one point, the corps of 23 investigators was almost cut in half, Herold said. Now, the board officials hope to have a full staff to tackle the backlog of complaints and do the undercover investigations of every pharmacy at least once every three years.

That’s still less than what most states do. Many states inspect each year, while other visit every two years.

Regardless of the timing of the inspections, there’s a consensus on what remains behind the problems: Too few pharmacists handling more prescriptions.

To survive the managed-care shakedown of the 1990s, locally owned pharmacies took on more prescriptions, said Todd Dankmyer, spokesman for the National Community Pharmacists Association.

The same applies to chain store pharmacies, which often find it hard to enough help, said Maryland’s Palumbo.

Too often, patient consultations get dropped from the process, which is something investigators will look for when they start their visits. But, Palumbo said, “three years seems to be stretching it a bit. Within that period, you could have totally different personnel in a pharmacy and it obviously reduces the probability of seeing problems.”

Regulators hope to do more frequent visits after they tackle the complaint backlog, which was 1,500 deep when the auditor investigated last year. Pharmacies with a history of more complaints against them can expect more frequent visits, Herold said.

Even so, it’s hard to inspect without inspectors, particularly since experienced pharmacists can make much more in private industry. Some pharmacies lure beginners with $80,000-a-year salaries and signing bonuses, such as new sports cars.

Now, state investigators make an average of $70,000 a year, which the state hopes to increase.

“This is the board’s No. 1 priority now and it seems we have the political climate to make sure we’re able to do it,” Herold said.

SAN FRANCISCO – After slipping and sliding nearly out of sight just a few years ago, the company that gave the world the Frisbee, the Hula Hoop and the Hacky Sack is trying to regain its footing as a toy trendsetter.

Wham-O, based in San Francisco, has come up with one of the top-selling toys during the industry’s traditionally sluggish summer season — a rejuvenated version of its once-popular Slip’N Slide product line.

The entire Slip’N Slide inventory has already been shipped out to retailers, making the backyard water slide a success beyond the privately held company’s expectation.

Wham-O is now on a pace for $50 million in sales this year, more than twice its revenue for 1997. That was the year a group of investors led by the New York-based Charterhouse Group bought the toy maker from Mattel Inc. for about $20 million.

Charterhouse and its partners paid a bargain-bin price for a toy box full of classic creations that also included Superball, Boogie Board, Silly String and Water Wiggle.

Despite its brands’ name recognition, Wham-O seemed to lose its punch under Mattel, which focused most of its efforts on much bigger and highly profitable product lines like Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels model cars.

Its new management team set out to re-establish the popularity of the company’s best-known toys and then introduce updated versions of the top sellers.

“This was a small business for Mattel, but we think we can build it into something much bigger with our more focused approach,” said Wham-O chief executive Mojde Esfandiari. “Our objective is to grow into a business with $200 million to $300 million in annual sales within the next few years.”

To hit its sales target, Wham-O — named after the impact of a well-aimed slingshot, the company’s original product — expects to snap up other promising toy lines, much like company co-founders Rich Knerr and Spud Melin did in 1955 when they bought the Pipco Flying Saucer from inventors Fred Morrison and Warren Franscioni.

After initially selling the discs as the Pluto Platter, Wham-O later renamed it “Frisbee.” The Frisbee and Hula Hoop helped establish Wham-O as one of the toy industry’s top fad factories.

Mattel and Hasbro Inc. dominate toys today — together they have about 37 percent of the $23 billion industry. Wham-O’s plan is to establish itself as the No. 1 maker of outdoor toys.

“It’s a smart strategy on Wham-O’s part,” said New York toy consultant Chris Byrne. “There is tremendous equity built up in some of their brand names. The challenge for them is to figure out a way to find new, innovative ways to get customers to buy more Frisbees and more Slip’N Slides.”

The comeback of the Slip’N Slide — a popular product shelved in the early 1990s after a series of adult accidents — is an example of how Wham-O hopes to put some of the Baby Boom generation’s favorite toys on the wish lists of 21st-century kids.

When Wham-O decided to revive it, the product was redesigned to add several new twists, including longer ramps, water tunnels and colorful archways.

“We don’t want today’s kids to think of our toys as their Mom and Dad’s toys,” said Scott Masline, Wham-O’s senior vice president of marketing. “The nostalgia associated with our toys is nice, but in the end it’s all about product innovation.”

Wham-O says the redesigned slides — labeled with prominent warnings against use by anyone above 11 years old — are perfectly safe.

Oakland attorney Matthew Rinaldi, who negotiated a settlement for a man who broke his neck on the Slip’N Slide, also thinks the latest version is safe, but fears the product’s comeback will inspire some households to pull out the more dangerous old versions out of their garages.

“We are very concerned,” Rinaldi said, “because it seem like the Slip’N Slide has an aura of being cool again.”

During the next year, Wham-O plans to introduce 50 new products to its existing line of about 120 toys. Most of the new products are designed for winter use — an attempt to diversify a business now heavily reliant on summertime sales.

Most of the new products will attempt to piggyback on established brands. For instance, the company will sell products such as the Frisbee Flyer, the Hula Hoop Saucer and the Slip’N Slide Snow Spinner to ride down snow-covered hills.

For now, Wham-O is just hoping that its summer sales remain strong. The toy maker may be one of the few businesses based in blackout-prone California to be rooting for hot weather during the next few months.

“I pull out the paper every morning and turn to the weather map,” Masline said. “When I see red all over the map, I know that means green for us.”

Cornes and his colleagues at the Berkeley based start-up Sea Power & Associates think they’ve figured out how to harness the energy in waves.

Their Wave Rider technology is a series of lightweight concrete floats that would sit one to two miles off shore. Floats are connected to a hydraulic pump that extends about 60 feet down to the ocean floor. The up-and-down motion of the waves creates pressure that drives the hydraulic pump, which then drives turbines to generate electric power.

The design “seemed to be well thought out and I didn’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work,” says David Navarro of the California Energy Commission. “There’s a lot out there. it’s just waiting to happen.”

The notion of wiring the waves has been around for a few decades. The problem up to now is that few of the ideas have been tested — although some companies outside the United States have produced power from the ocean — and the cost has been considered prohibitively high compared to other renewable forms of energy such as wind and sun.

“It’s estimated two-tenths of a percent of the energy contained in the ocean could power the whole world. It’s this energy source that’s totally untapped,” says Cornes.

While Japan and Northern Europe have forged ahead with government-funded sea power schemes, research dollars in the United States dried up after an initial surge in the 1970s.

In California, there were talks about trying a few ideas along the coast, but “when the deregulation came through there was no money for research. They all stopped. They all went away,” said Michael Champ, president of the Falls Church, Va.-based Advanced Technology Research Project and an early advocate of ocean power.

Now, with California battling an energy crisis and a revival of interest in finding sources of energy that don’t come from decomposed dinosaurs, sea power advocates are hoping to see their field get a push.

“Where we are is where wind was five years ago,” says Mirko Previsic, CEO and founder of Seapower & Associates, who has tested his ideas in wave tanks but needs to raise $3.4 million to build an oceangoing prototype.

The total power of waves breaking on the world’s coastline could produce two to three million megawatts, Navarro said. In good locations, wave energy density can produce an average 65 megawatts per mile of coastline. One megawatt can power about 750 homes.

“When you see a wave go by you think of it as the water moving. Well, it’s not the water, it’s the energy within the water that’s making it move,” says Navarro.

The ocean can produce two types of energy, thermal energy from the sun’s heat and mechanical energy from tides and waves.

There are three basic ways of converting the kinetic energy that drives a wave into power:

— Tapered channel systems push the waves into reservoirs and then make the water flow through a turbine, similar to a hydroelectric dam.

— Float systems use the rise and fall of the waves to drive hydraulic pumps.

— Oscillating water column systems are fixed generating devices in which waves enter the column and force air up past a turbine. As the wave retreats, the air pressure drops, causing the turbine to turn.

Last November, the world’s first commercial wave power station, which uses the oscillating water column system, began supplying power to the grid on the small Scottish island of Islay. It’s operated by Wavegen, a pioneer in ocean energy.

Wave energy has the advantage over wind and sun in that it is constant. There are some concerns about getting permits to place the devices and they would also need to be marked for navigational purposes. View obstruction could also be a concern, although many of the devices sit far offshore and would not be visible from land.

Sea Power & Associates’ target market is remote coastal communities and small islands which now have to rely on diesel generators, which are expensive and dirty. Ocean power would produce no greenhouse gases and Cornes and Previsic believe their system could be cost-competitive with diesel, which they said now costs 18 cents to 25 cents a kilowatt hour.

Sea Power & Associates got a boost this spring when their business plan won the $10,000 grand prize at the Social Venture Competition held at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

The next order of business is trying to squeeze money out of an increasingly skittish venture capital pool.

“They’re still working ... which is a plus,” says Navarro. “I have to give a lot of credit to Mirko for believing in what they’ve done and pushing it forward.”

Champ, too, hopes sea power is on the rise.

“It just really is a crime to see this die,” he says. “Even if it only put a light bulb on the end of the pier for people to fish off, it would have been valuable. It would have been a light in the dark that didn’t cost anybody anything.”

More than a month after the city and school district said they would move immediately to double Berkeley High’s safety officer force, there are still no new officers on the campus.

A series of fights and assaults at Berkeley High earlier this spring, culminating in an incident that led to the arrest of five Berkeley High students, prompted the pledge that several new safety measures would be instituted at the school.

Negotiations with a number of private security firms broke down early last week when the companies indicated that they were simply not comfortable having their personnel work on a high school campus, said Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch. Lynch said the companies cited concerns about liability.

“We’re going to try to explore other possibilities,” Lynch said. But he added that, with just a handful of days left in the school year, it may make more sense to “focus on next year.”

At this point, Lynch said he would be happy to see just a few full-time people added to the school’s seven person safety staff next year.

Berkeley Interim Superintendent Stephen Goldstone attributed the difficulties in finding more safety officers, in part, to a tight job market.

“It’s been a great disappointment that we haven’t been able to secure the people we wanted to secure,” he said.

At least one of the new security measures proposed in April has been implemented, Lynch said. Students can now call a 24-hour hotline to leave anonymous tips relating to incidents of violence at the school. The number is 644-6208.

Lynch said school safety staff and police have completed an investigation into the assaults that occurred earlier this year. One of the students arrested in April pled guilty to charges of assault in court Thursday, he said, and two others are scheduled to appear in court soon.

Lynch also said there have been no serious assaults on campus since April. “From the time that those kids were arrested, things have mellowed out,” Lynch said. “There’s still stuff, but nothing like that.”

Saturday, June 9

Celebrates original crafts, international diversity, and community life. One hundred artists and craftsmakers display their work, with live performances and a variety of food. Free admission.

Call 986-9337

The Bite of REI 2001

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

REI

1338 San Pablo Ave.

Taste some of the best, lightweight backpacking food and energy snacks available. At 1 p.m. Rick Greenspan and Hal Kahn with demonstrate how to turn your outdoor trips into gourmet adventures. Free 527-4140

White Elephant Sale

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

1300 Shattuck Avenue

Sale held by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Sunday, June 10

Counteracting Negative

Emotions

6 p.m.

Tibetan Nyingma Institute

1815 Highland Place

Exercises presented by Sylvia Gretchen, Dean of Nyingma Studies. Free and open to the public.

843-681

Live Oak Park Fair

11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

One hundred artists and craftsmakers display their work, with live entertainment and food. Free admission. 986-9337

“Kindertransport: A Personal Account”

10:30 a.m.

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center

1414 Walnut St.

Hear the moving story Ralph Samuel, who escaped Nazi Germany as the age of eight. Samuel was one of an estimated 10,000 children who were rescued through the efforts of the Kindertransport operation. $4 BRJCC members, $5 for general public. Admission includes brunch. 848-0237.

Music and Meditation

8 - 9 p.m.

The Heart-Road Traveller

1828 Euclid Ave.

Group meditation though instrumental music and devotional songs. Led by Lucian Balmer and Baoul Scavullo. Free.

496-3468

Monday, June 11

(Oakland) Landmarks

Preservation Advisory Board

4 p.m.

One Frank H. Ogawa Plaza

Hearing Room One

The Board will meet and discuss the request to make the Claremont Hotel an official landmark.

Berkeley School Volunteers

3 - 4:30 p.m.

1835 Allston Way

Orientation for volunteers interested in helping in summer academic and recreation programs.

644-8833

Tuesday, June 12

Berkeley Camera Club

7:30 p.m.

Northbrae Community Church

941 The Alameda

Share your slides and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips.

Call Wade, 531-8664

Young Queer Women’s Group

8 - 9:30 p.m.

Pacific Center

2712 Telegraph Ave.

Make some new friends, expand your horizons and get support with a bunch of queer women all in the same place at the same time (somewhere between 18 and 25).

548-8283 or visit www.pacificcenter.org

Berkeley Farmers’ Market

2 - 7 p.m.

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 548-3333

For several months now Californians have been worried about rolling electrical blackouts and soaring energy bills. Then, suddenly natural gas prices tumbled and it turns out the “crisis” was only a very short nightmare.

What happened?

One clue is the news from the markets on June 5– “crude and heating oil futures rise on jitters about Iraq's suspension of petroleum exports while gasoline futures retreat to three month lows and natural gas falls.”

But the key answer is found in the financial section of the Saudi newspaper As-Sharq al-Ausat (ASAA) of June 3, in a story headlined “Saudis are prepared to cover all shortages in world markets after Iraq halted oil exports.”

This was apparently the first report of a Saudi commitment to assure adequate supplies to all oil markets, a capability they alone have among oil producing nations.

Saudi oil minister Ali ibn-Ibrahim al-Na'eemi made the announcement June 4, on the eve of the formal OPEC meeting in Vienna. So the ASAA must be credited with a scoop.

A fair part of the ASAA piece dealt with the timing of Iraq's action – how Iraq announced on June 2 it would halt all exports the following day, June 3. ASAA cited a Reuters report that all Iraqi oil had stopped flowing through the major Turkish oil port Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast which usually handles 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, some 85 percent of which is from Iraq.

Did Saddam really cut the oil flow or only said he would? ASAA reported the Saudi oil minister al-Na'eemi as stating that “all members of OPEC” were in full agreement with the Saudis– though the Iraqi announcement was made before the Vienna conference opened.

The piece quoted al-Na'eemi as saying that even Egypt supported the move – on June 3 he was in the Saudi capital Riyadh meeting with Egyptian prime minister Atef Obeid– but Egypt is not a member of OPEC. And when the ASAA reporter asked how many barrels a day the Saudi oil commitment could amount to, al-Na'eemi just kept saying “yes.”

The apparent scenario, then, looks like this: Saddam the rogue threatens to strangle the West by cutting its oil flow. The Saudis, like Bedouin Sir Galahads, swoop in and promise to save Western motorists from an oil shortage like the one that shook them so badly in October 1973.

ASAA explained Saddam's gambit as a way to show he was peeved at the Security Council for renewing the “food for oil” agreement for only 30 days rather than six months.

But that explanation holds no water. Saddam knows the sanctions have been wafting away – not least because Secretary Powell, even before Bush's inauguration, said he wanted to do away with all U.S. or UN sanctions except for those involving weapons of mass destruction.

In fact, halting oil exports would be a silly move and Saddam is not a silly man. He has nothing to gain from such an action. As for the Saudis, they loathe Saddam but are not letting him terrorize them.

What really concerns King Fahd and Prince Abdullah is the U.S. posture in the Middle East. Washington holds the key– either to peace and profits in the world economy or a worsening war and plummeting profits.

The Saudis have always opted for the former. And so the royal family has been close friends of U.S. oil companies for over half a century.

Washington had seen Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak as an uncertain friend despite huge U.S. military aid. However, in recent weeks he has both consolidated his domestic power and moved to the forefront of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He is now a major peace process ally for the Bush administration.

Maybe his prime minister Atef Obeid brought some news to Riyadh that convinced the overly cautious Saudi rulers that this time Washington is determined to end the Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed by forcing a decision on both antagonists.

No matter how much we Americans may disapprove of about just everything Saudi, we can't do so for their oil as well. If we did we would have no more SUV's to drive– especially zooming ahead on freeways with only the driver at the wheel and the radio booming. If that's the American paradise then we'll have to thank the Saudis for it.

Franz Schurmann, emeritus professor at UC Berkeley, has written on the politics of oil for over two decades, especially in his book “The Foreign Politics of Richard Nixon.” (Berkeley, 1987)

Playing hardball at East Campus not good

Editor:

RE: A proposed hardball field at the East Campus site (Derby/MLK/Carlton/Milvia)

I am opposed to this project. The quality of life in this dense area has already been severely compromised.

Again, it is necessary to resume public meetings before unpopular and divisive decisions are made. Positive community development demands quieter, greener areas with gardens to encourage ecological studies, neighborhood participatory activities and perhaps, at the most, soccer or softball spaces. The street must not be closed. The old “temporary buildings” should be razed ASAP as they pose a danger to the health and safety in the area and are a visual blight.

I am a longtime resident of Berkeley and my children did go through the Berkeley schools. With many of my neighbors I will continue to oppose this project.

Jean Rowe Leiber R.N., N.P.

Berkeley

Take a hint from the wheelchairs

Editor:

Something good may come out of the spiraling cost of energy, regarding personal vehicles [am I seeing things or are there fewer SUV’s recently in Berkeley?]: smaller cars, more efficient cars, lighter cars, more thoughtful cars, reduced use of cars.

In the 60’s, I advocated legislating smaller cars; my professor in urban planning irritable dismissed my idea as unworkable. [Grandmother gave me a VW so I could work while in college; “... all my friends had Porches ...”]

By the eighties, a compact parking space was mandated for every few normal sized spaces for planning new projects, by counties and towns everywhere.

But car-makers now make more on show-off, muscle, look-at-me, get-out-of-my-way vehicles; and now Detroit and fuel producers with handsome profits first in mind tell the public guzzling is good, if not god.

Sixty percent of auto trips, according to a 70’s statistic that sticks in my mind, may be recreational, or at any rate, nonessential; folks do love to watch the landscape streaming past, etc.

After seeing my friends who use motorized wheelchairs zip all around the area, it occurs to me most local trips could easily be made with personal vehicles little, if any, larger than those ingenious devices. Increasing their reliability, weather-protection, affordability and range would make them more attractive to the non-disabled; expanding the BART network would make mini-personal electric vehicles able to reach a huge proportion of the Bay Area.

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” through May 2002. An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery.” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history. “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu

Anna’s Music at 8 p.m. June 9: Robin Gregory and Bliss Rodriguez, 10 p.m.: The Ducksan Distone; June 10: Choro Time with Ron Galen and Friends; June 11: The Renegade Sidemen; June 12: Best of Open Mike; June 13: Bob Schoen Jazz Quartet; June 14: Richard Kalman Combo. $2 weeknights, $3 weekends. 1801 University Ave. 849-ANNA

“More Matters of Life and Death” June 15 - 17, 8 p.m. “Iris, Blue, Each Spring,” tackles the joys and sorrows of growing older and is set to “Six Japanese Songs” by Margaret Garwood. $12 - $15 Western Sky Studio 2525 Eighth St. 848-4878

“Dance Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity” June 16, 8 p.m. and June 17, 2 p.m. The annual repertory concert for the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance features over 100 performers of dance and music from the South Pacific, India, Africa and the Middle East. $5 - $15 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

Kalanjali in Concert June 22, 7 p.m. Kalanjali concludes its celebration of its 25th year in Berkeley with a special recital. Experienced dancers and young students, with guests from India including dancer K. P. Yesoda and the musicians of Bharatakalanjali. $6 - $8 Juia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 925-798-1300

Theater

“A New Brain” June 9 and 10, 8 p.m. Catch the last weekend of the Shotgun Players’ first musical about an artist with dreams of writing an epic musical, who is stuck writing tunes for a children’s television show. $10 - $15 Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 2640 Collage Ave. 655-0813

“Big Love” by Charles L. Mee Through June 10 Directed by Les Waters and loosely based on the Greek Drama, “The Suppliant Woman,” by Aeschylus. Fifty brides who are being forced to marry fifty brothers flee to a peaceful villa on the Italian coast in search of sanctuary. $15.99 - $51 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949

“The Laramie Project” Through July 8, Wed. 7 p.m., Tues. and Thur. -Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Written by Moises Kaufmen and members of Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Moises Kaufman. Moises Kaufman and Tectonic members traveled to Laramie, Wyo., after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepherd. The play is about the community and the impact Shepherd’s death had on its members. $10 - $50. The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

“Romeo and Juliet” June 14 - July 14, Thurs. - Sat. 8 p.m. Set in early 1930’s just before the rise of Hitler in the Kit Kat Klub, Juliet is torn between ties to the Nazi party and Romeo’s Jewish heritage. $8 - $10. La Val’s Subterranean Theater 1834 Euclid 234-6046

“A Life In the Theatre” Previews June 9, 10, 13. Opens June 14, runs through July 15. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. David Mamet play about the lives of two actors, considered a metaphor for life itself. Directed by Nancy Carlin. $30-$35. $26 preview nights. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant 843-4822

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts and Paintings. Through Aug. 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541

ITASCA, Ill. – When a parent was seriously injured in a melee – hit between the eyes with a yard marker – at a football game in El Paso, Texas, Mayor Carlos Ramirez decided it was time to do something about the city’s growing sideline rage at youth sports events.

Last fall, Ramirez started an anger management class for parents that was expanded into a 2 1/2-hour lesson, complete with a training manual, on sports parenting and child abuse in youth activities. About 15,000 parents have taken the course, and the lesson seems to be sinking in.

“For the first time in many years there has not been one fight in our youth football season,” Ramirez said in an opening address Friday at a conference on how to curb violence in youth sports.

Experts from across the country are meeting in this Chicago suburb this weekend, creating guidelines for parents and coaches.

Fred Engh, who heads the National Alliance for Youth Sports – the sponsor of the conference – said every community will get a copy of the guidelines.

“If communities don’t adopt this they should hang their heads in shame,” Engh said.

The El Paso course will be the starting point for the guidelines the conference plans to develop.

Daniel Wann, an expert on parent and spectator behavior at sporting events, said the problem with parental rage at games is the result of spectators’ natural tendency to identify with players on the field.

“They don’t go to games to cause trouble, but they so identify with their children on the playing field they can’t get a grip,” said Wann.

Across the country, enraged parents have attacked coaches, umpires and referees, each other, and even children.

Some of the more notorious examples:

– In Oklahoma in 1999, a coach had to be restrained after he starting choking an umpire during a tee-ball game for 5- and 6-year-olds.

– In San Fernando, a father was sentenced to 45 days in jail last year for beating a coach who took his 11-year-old son out of a baseball game.

– A parent in Reading, Mass., was beaten to death while supervising his son’s hockey pickup game last July. Authorities say another father, Thomas Junta, became upset at rough play and fought with Michael Costin, a single father of four. Junta was charged with manslaughter and awaits trial.

In addition, violence against umpires and referees has prompted many states to get tougher. The Illinois Legislature recently passed a bill mandating penalties for people who assault sports officials, while 15 other states have similar laws.

Everyone in the School Board meeting room seemed excited about the new superintendent at the gathering Friday where district personnel turned out to meet and greet Michele Barraza Lawrence, the new superintendent.

Except one, that is.

“I can’t believe Northern California has stolen her away from me,” said the superintendent’s daughter Kimberly Barraza-Lawrence, a former high school Spanish teacher, now getting her doctorate in education at UCLA. The younger Barraza-Lawrence was accompanying her mother, helping her with house shopping in Berkeley.

A crowd of administrators, city officials and parents lined up to meet and greet Lawrence, 53, who appeared to give undivided attention to each. Her first day on the job will be July 16, although she will be in and out of the district before that date.

“She comes to us from a community that loves and respects her and honors her,” said Board of Education President Terry Doran in his formal introduction, going on to say that the people of Berkeley will be there for her. “Even if you don’t call on them, they will be there,” he promised, with a smile.

Lawrence acknowledged that the move from Paramount in Los Angeles County will be a big one for her. “I’ve lived and worked within 20 miles (of where I was born) all my life,” said Lawrence, whose parents were both from Mexico.

The crowd applauded when she spoke of her mission: “The children will always come first,” she said.

Lawrence will be paid $185,000 annually and will receive $15,000 for relocation costs. Expenses such as travel, conferences or a car allowance, sometimes paid separately, are included in the annual salary. The previous superintendent earned about $170,000, including the various business expenses which were paid separately, Doran said.

The school superintendent will remain the highest-paid official in the city. City Manager Weldon Rucker earns $154,000 annually.

Four members of the St. Mary’s track & field team will take part in a national competition this weekend in Sacramento.

The Golden West Invitational is an annual event held the week after the CIF State Championship Meet. The Invitational consists of individual competitions with just one heat in each event, and will be host to some of the top athletes from around the country.

For St. Mary’s, Kamaiya Warren will throw the discus, Bridget Duffy will run the mile, Asokah Muhammed will take part in the triple jump, and Halihl Guy will run the 300-meter low hurdles. All but Warren finished in the top four in their event at the state meet. Warren failed to advance in the discus due to fouls in a regional meet, but finished second in the shot put at the state meet.

“This is a hard meet to get into,” St. Mary’s head coach Jay Lawson said. “You usually have to be nationally ranked to be invited. It’s a great opportunity for our kids.”

The Golden West Invitational will take place on Saturday at American River College in Sacramento.

Cal gets second early verbal commitment

Richard Midgely, a junior for Modesto Christian, has verbally committed to attend and play basketball at Cal following his senior year.

Midgely, a 6-1 point guard, averaged 19 points and five assists a game for Modesto Christian this season, leading the team to the Division I state championship game, where they lost to Mater Dei (Los Angeles).

Midgely is the second highly-ranked junior to commit early to the Golden Bears. Earlier this spring, Derek Burditt, a 6-5 junior and the New Orleans Metro Area Player of the Year, gave a verbal commitment to the school. Verbal commitments are not binding until players sign a official letter of intent.

Midgely, who is originally from London, was also recruited by Kentucky, UCLA and Utah.

With Midgely and Burditt already committed, Cal head coach Ben Braun could have back-to-back top-10 recruiting classes. Next year’s crop of center Jamal Sampson and forwards Julian Sensley and Erik Bond is considered the best class Braun has gotten in his five years with the program.

La Peña Cultural Center is celebrating its 26th anniversary by throwing a benefit tonight to honor the work of Dolores Huerta and to help raise money for the labor leader’s medical expenses.

“Dolores is a farm worker leader of remarkable courage,” La Peña spokesperson Fernando Torres said. “She is a woman of phenomenal strength and truly one of the 100 most important women of the 20th century.”

The benefit will include music by Dulce Mambo and others, a slide show presented by Huerta’s daughter Camellia Chavez chronicling her mother’s family life and a talk by Huerta herself. Mayor Shirley Dean will also be on hand to declare June 9 Dolores Huerta Day in Berkeley.

Mother of 11, Huerta, 71, devoted her life to community activism after coming in contact with the children of the poor and dispossessed while working as a grammar school teacher in the 1950s.

She later co-founded the National Farm Workers Association with Cesar Chavez. According to a La Peña press release, Huerta has “worked tirelessly ever since to improve the lives of farm workers and for decades has worked to ban the use of toxic pesticides that threaten the health of farm workers, consumers and the environment.”

Father Bill O’Donnell, who will introduce Huerta and offer a prayer, said Huerta is a true hero. “She comes out of a community that was the most powerless in California and she joined with Cesar Chavez to organize that community and they made tremendous sacrifices to achieve some hope for the people who harvest our food,” he said.

O’Donnell said Huerta fought even within her own union for women’s rights. “In her union, there was a cultural bias against women that Huerta was not afraid to take on,” he said. “That’s why she’s so special.”

Huerta is also known as a passionate speaker who has lobbied in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.

She is the recipient of numerous awards for her work and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1993.

Huerta has a rare medical condition known as Aortic Duodenal Fistula. She underwent surgery in November and was hospitalized for nearly two months. “She went through a lot but she’s steadily regaining her strength,” Camellia Chavez said.

Torres said Huerta’s medical bills are close to $250,000, which is only partially covered by insurance. A large percentage of tonight’s proceeds will go to covering her medical expenses.

The celebration will also benefit La Peña, a nonprofit which opened in Berkeley in 1975. Peña means gathering place in Spanish and La Peña is modeled after the peñas’ tradition of Chile and Argentina where peasants constructed temporary huts to form a communal space for celebrating fiestas and holidays.

La Peña presents a variety of music, theater and dance events. Many of the artists reflect contemporary social issues from multicultural perspectives. La Peña also offers music and dance classes, some of which are free.

The benefit celebration will be held at La Peña Cultural Center at 3105 Shattuck Ave. at 7 p.m. For ticket information call 849-2568.

Until the Bay Bridge opened in 1936, the only way of crossing the bay was by private boat or ferry.

To facilitate travel to the ferry many roads cut a diagonal path to the Ferry terminal, called the Oakland Mole.

The ferry terminal was located on “Long Wharf” which was near the present approach to the Bay Bridge. When the Berkeley Branch Line of the Central Pacific (later Southern Pacific) Railroad began running in 1876, the route from Oakland began its diagonal path along Stanford Avenue named for the man who owned the railroad, Leland Stanford.

In the foreground of the photo are three freight cars located in the triangular island created by the diverging streets.

Originally used for railroad operations, these parcels were later developed when the trains stopped running.

These islands today are the location of a parking lot on the smallest section, a drug store in the middle section and a grocery store (Berkeley Bowl) in the largest section.

The tall house in the middle right is still standing today at 2820 Adeline Street.

Built in the 1890s, it remains as distinctive a building in its neighborhood as it did in 1906.

East Bay fire departments will prepare for the early fire season with a training for wild land fires at Tilden Park today.

At 9:30 a.m. the fire departments of Berkeley, Oakland, Moraga-Orinda, Contra Costa County, California Division of Forestry, East Bay Regional Parks, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab will come together at the Equestrian Camp off Wildcat Canyon Road.

Although there will not be any actual fire, the drills will include hose development and communications and command tests for large scale incidents, according to a press release from the City Manager Weldon Rucker.

Fire engines will be coming from various stations around the area and while their lights may flash for safety reasons, they will not be responding to actual emergencies.

Volunteers needed for Meals on Wheels

The city’s Meals of Wheels program is looking for summer volunteers to deliver hot, nutritious meals to some of the area’s homebound seniors. Every summer the program faces a shortage of volunteers as people take vacations, said Natalie Krelle-Zepponi of the Meals on Wheels program in a press release. Due to the high cost of producing the meals, volunteers are essential in keeping the program running.

Volunteers are needed to help package and deliver the meals to seniors 60 years old and over in Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville. From 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. help is needed to package meals, and from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. the meals need to be delivered.

A typical delivery route would take food to between eight and 20 seniors and would take between 45 and 75 minutes. For information or to volunteer contact Portable Meals at 644-8590.

Four major power suppliers to California have shown they can control prices in the wholesale electricity market and should have to refund excess charges, possibly up to billions of dollars, state grid officials said Friday.

The Independent System Operator, keeper of the state’s power grid, also asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to revoke the market-based rate authority for four generators – Duke Energy, Mirant, Dynegy and Reliant Energy.

ISO analysts have estimated the state was overcharged about $6.7 billion between May 2000 and March 2001. That includes charges by generators other than the four in these filings, and ISO officials didn’t have an estimate on how much they were seeking from Duke, Reliant, Mirant and Dynegy.

In order to escape charging cost-based rates, generators must prove to FERC that they don’t have market power — the ability to charge whatever price they want without consequence. Suppliers have to have that authority renewed by FERC every three years, and most are up for review this summer.

ISO attorney Charles Robinson said the companies have exhibited they have market power and the ability to charge market-based rates should be revoked. The ISO asked FERC to act on their request by June 28.

Tom Williams, spokesman for Duke Energy, said company officials were reviewing the filing and would respond soon. Richard Wheatley of Reliant Energy said the ISO order was “nothing but a rehashing of previous allegations that have been repeatedly rejected by FERC.”

If FERC finds the companies do have market power, they could order them to use cost-based rates, which limit company profits to a percentage above the costs to produce power.

“If there is a substantial change in the market, they have to make another filing with FERC. With the demise of the PX, the bankruptcy of PG&E, the financial difficulty of Edison – certainly that compelled the suppliers to file about those changes,” Robinson said.

The Power Exchange, or the PX, was the state’s power market, but filed for bankruptcy after its largest customers, San Diego Gas and Electric Co., Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison, stopped purchasing power. The state now buys power for customers of those utilities directly from generators.

The agency has already made similar requests regarding two other energy companies, Williams and AES.

If the companies are found to have charged excessive rates, FERC can order refunds.

But ISO officials said in their filing that “the potential for after-the-fact refunds is little comfort to the elderly consumer, who, because of outrageously high prices, was forced in the interim to forego air conditioning notwithstanding serious health implications, or to the small business that was forced to close its doors.”

Though ISO estimates $6.7 billion has been overcharged, some of that comes from companies not under FERC’s jurisdiction, such as Canadian firms or municipal districts.

FERC has ordered $125 million in refunds, saying it can only examine prices for power sold during Stage 3 emergencies, when reserves drop to below 1.5 percent.

MARTINEZ — Contra Costa County health officials ordered a recall Friday of certain medications following one man’s death and the infection of three others with a non-contagious form of meningitis.

Doctors and other health-care providers who purchased injectable medication prepared by Doc’s Pharmacy in Walnut Creek were asked to immediately stop using the medication.

The recall also includes opthalmics, or medications administered to the mucus membrane of the eye, that were purchased from Doc’s Pharmacy.

Wendel Brunner, director of the county’s public health service, said officials ordered the precautionary recall because a batch of the steroid beta methasone prepared in mid-May by Doc’s Pharmacy was contaminated with bacteria.

George Stahl, 47, of Concord, died from the infection on May 30, 24 hours after receiving a shot for lower back pain. An elderly man who received a shot May 31 also died within the last week, though doctors are not sure if it was from meningitis. Seven others have been hospitalized – six at John Muir Medical Center, spokeswoman Patricia Hefner said.

Three are confirmed to have the meningitis, another two have symptoms but their problem is not yet known and one has a different blood infection, Hefner said.

The seventh person was hospitalized at San Ramon Regional Medical Center with an undiagnosed infection.

The bacteria is common and is only dangerous when it gets into the bloodstream or spinal fluid.

“What’s fine on the hands, in the mouth and in the stomach could be deadly when injected into spinal fluid,” Brunner said.

Robert Horwitz, a Doc’s pharmacist, told the Contra Costa Times that the pharmacy is being made a scapegoat.

The Sierra Surgery Center in Concord, where the four people became infected with bacteria as a result of the injections, referred questions to attorney Rich Conti.

“All I understand is the organism or bacteria they think is there has nothing to do with sterile techniques or anything (the doctor) would have done,” Conti told the Contra Costa Times.

“Other than that, the issue is unknown as to why these people have gotten sick,” Conti said. “They received the same medication on the same day and that raises questions that need to be answered. The doctor is quite confident he did what he always does and followed sterile technique and is waiting to hear what happened.”

This form of meningitis is not related to meningococcal meningitis — the contagious form of the illness transmitted through kissing, sharing drinks or other close contact — that is blamed for the recent deaths of two people in the Bay Area.

OAKLAND — A former Oakland rookie cop testified Friday that a group of renegade officers known as “The Riders” pressured him to quit after he disapproved of their practices.

Keith Batt, 24, was questioned for more than four hours Friday about his two weeks working the night shift on the streets of west Oakland. He said he quickly realized he didn't like the tactics of his trainer, Chuck Mabanag, and his fellow officers.

“I didn't want to go on doing the things we were doing,” said Batt, who is now a police officer in Pleasanton.

“It was illegal. It was immoral. It was contrary to what I had been trained and what I believed was right.”

Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung faced Batt and their alleged victims in Alameda Superior Court for the past week during their preliminary hearing after which a judge will decide whether there’s enough evidence for a trial.

A fourth accused officer, Frank Vazquez, is believed to have fled the country.

The officers now face more than 60 felony and misdemeanor counts ranging from assault and kidnapping to falsifying reports and overtime slips.

Batt has spent two days testifying that “The Riders” taught him to handcuff and search suspects before finding out whether they had done anything wrong. Suspects were rarely read their rights and were often beaten and threatened, Batt said. Reports were later concocted to cover the officers tracks.

“I was afraid of what those officers were going to do next,” Batt said. After nine nights on the job, Batt told Mabanag he didn't like “the way they did things.” He said Mabanag got angry and told him “it was a major setback in my training.”

Batt talked briefly to Vazquez, who declared he no longer wanted to work with him, and then talked for several hours with Mabanag who persuaded him to resign. At Mabanags suggestion, Batt said he wrote a short letter that said “the city’s too much for me. I'm not cut out to be an Oakland police officer.”

He later reported the officers behavior to internal affairs, prompting a full-scale investigation.

Defense attorney Mike Rains began his cross-examination of Batt late Friday. He asked whether he was aware that “The Riders” superiors were aware of their activities and were able to constantly monitor radio communications. He also implied that it was suspicious Batt didn't report the officers earlier.

Batt appeared to grow increasingly impatient, smiling and rolling his eyes.

That could be the theme song of a new Web site designed to help disgruntled residents flee traffic, pricey real estate and rolling blackouts.

Hayward resident Randy Lee, 39, designs Web sites and created the “Leaving California” site partly as a marketing tool for his own business.

Then friends and family urged him to publicize the site, which contains links to real estate brokers and visitor’s bureaus, polls, a message board and other information to help people learn about career and living opportunities outside the state.

“I don’t promote that anyone leave who is comfortable here and likes it here,” Lee said.

“I’m a native and I love California. What I don’t love is the overpopulation, the traffic. Now we have the rolling blackouts. That’s going to destroy the economy.” Rising housing prices, traffic congestion and the other problems Lee cites are not the result of people leaving the state, but moving here in droves.

Census figures show that while residents left the state in the early 1990s as the state struggled with recession, drought and other problems, California’s population actually rose 13 percent in the decade.

Lee has already decided he will leave the state within two years for personal reasons, partly pegged to the high cost of living in his San Francisco Bay community. “I have a 20-year old daughter and a niece out toward Modesto,” Lee said.

“There’s no way they can even think of buying a house here. I can’t afford to live here anymore. It’s a sad realization when it hits you that you can’t afford to live in your home.” Lee’s Web site has been attracting visitors and even advertisers. Lee said about 20,000 people visited the site this past week and he is making a profit selling ads to real estate brokers and similar relocation companies.

Paul White, an agent with Liberty Realty in Las Vegas, heard about Lee’s site through a client who is moving from the Bay area. He decided to buy an ad earlier this week.

“There’s a lot of people leaving California for the Las Vegas area and I want to have as many of those people as possible contact me,” he said.

White said the ad, which links people to his own Web site, hasn’t yet resulted in any

solid leads.

“Probably people are looking for information whether or not they’re actually making the decision to move,” he said. “I think they’re looking for alternatives, weighing their options.”

Jim Manning, lives in Waco, Neb., and is trying to sell his 34-acre property with an ad on Lee’s site.

He said he called Lee after a friend reported seeing the site. “If people are leaving your state as fast as they say they are, or thinking of leaving, maybe this would be the kind of place they would like to get out to,” Manning said.

PASADENA — The Hubble Space Telescope has caught Saturn’s rings in full tilt, revealing new clues about the origin of the gossamer band that encircles the giant planet.

The images, captured at approximately 12-month intervals from 1996 through last year, but only released this week, show the planet as its northern hemisphere swings from fall to winter.

With each passing year, Saturn’s seasonal motion reveals more and more of its rings to Hubble’s view. The process is slow, since Saturn takes more than 29 years to complete one lap around the sun, making each “season” on the planet equal to more than seven Earth years.

Since Saturn’s rings are only some 30 feet thick, they are practically invisible when viewed edge-on.

The most recent image, however, captures Saturn as its tilt reaches its extreme, or winter solstice in the planet’s northern hemisphere.

The image shows the rings of dusty water ice to be a subtle salmon color.

“The color of the ring material can help tell us what the rings are made of and will help decipher their origin,” said Jeff Cuzzi, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration scientist and member of the Hubble team, in a statement.

The images were released this week at the 198th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena.

Scientists think the pale red color comes from complex organic molecu-les mixed in with the ice.

While Saturn’s seven icy moons do not share that color, many objects frozen in the deeper reaches of the outer solar system do.

That leads them to speculate that the origin of the rings is not Saturn itself, but an object that traveled too close to the planet.

Saturn’s gravity would have presumably torn the object apart and scattered the debris in orbit.

The planet’s gravitational field constantly disrupts the chunks of ice, keeping them spread out and from forming into a new moon.

Scientists will get a closer look at the rings of Saturn after the robotic Cassini spacecraft arrives at the planet in 2004.

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge ruled two airlines were liable for an elderly asthmatic’s death because they refused to let the woman carry a bag containing her medication on board and then baggage handlers lost the bag.

U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder said Thursday that American Airlines and British West Indies Airlines were liable for the death of Caroline Neischer, 75, an Inglewood grandmother of 40 traveling from Los Angeles to Guyana for the wedding of a grandson.

Neischer wanted to carry with her a bag with a special inhaler and medication she needed for her asthma, but a ticket agent forced her to check the regulation-sized bag and it wasn’t returned for two days, testimony showed.

Both airlines were held liable even though it wasn’t clear whose agent forced her to part with the bag. An aviation litigation expert said it was the first time an airline had been held financially responsible for someone’s death because of mishandled luggage.

“It should put all airlines on notice that medical equipment that is used in the active care of a passenger must be made sure to be at the right place at the right time,” said Ned Good, past president of the Consumer Attorneys of California.

Neischer died Dec. 23, 1997, nine days after boarding a connecting flight from New York to Guyana. It was a trip she had made several times before, always carrying the same bag full of medication, court testimony showed.

She was allowed to carry the bag on the flight from Los Angeles to New York, but an unidentified airline agent in New York forced her to check the bag, testimony showed.

Neither the lawsuit nor court testimony gave any rationale for why an airline employee would have prevented Neischer from carrying her medication onto the flight with her.

During the trial, lawyers representing the airlines said that Neischer had a preexisting condition that helped contribute to her death, and that she contracted a respiratory infection during the flight that the missing medication would not have alleviated.

Lawyers for both airlines had no comment after the judge’s verdict.

“Someone insisted she relinquish her bag, which she did, kicking and screaming. They promised her it would be there when she got to Guyana. When she arrived, all of her bags were missing, including the carryon,” said attorney Bruce Altschuler, who represented Neischer’s daughter, Florence Prescod, in the wrongful death suit.

Neischer’s bag with the medication finally arrived in Guyana two days after her arrival, by which time she was already suffering from acute anxiety and breathing problems. She entered a Guyana hospital, where she died a week later.

All claims stemming from international air travel are governed by the Warsaw Convention of 1929, which imposes a $75,000 per-passenger limit on liability. Families can seek more if the airline is engaged in willful misconduct.

In her ruling after the nonjury trial, Snyder concluded that the two airlines were liable for Neischer’s death because they had been put on notice that she needed her medication to breathe and then ignored her requests before misplacing the bag.

Had Neischer been allowed to take her bag on board, Snyder ruled, “it is probable that she would not have died on Dec. 23, 1997.”

Neischer’s family was awarded about $170,000 based on her earnings and life expectancy of eight more years.

SACRAMENTO — A federal judge has postponed the trial of a man accused of firebombing three Sacramento synagogues until October.

U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell Jr. ruled Friday that the trial of James Tyler Williams, 31, should be delayed after his lawyers said they needed time to analyze FBI tests of a pair of coveralls prosecutors claim links Williams to the crimes.

Burrell did rule, however, that jury selection will begin as scheduled July 17.

LOS ANGELES — A judge dismissed misdemeanor charges Friday against a lawyer for former SLA fugitive Sara Jane Olson after the city attorney’s office conceded she had nothing to do with the improper release of information in the Olson case.

Shawn Snider Chapman said she was pleased to be exonerated but outraged that the charges were filed in the first place.

She had been accused of releasing addresses and phone numbers of two police witnesses in the Olson attempted-murder case.

The information was posted briefly on a Web site, but Chapman said from the beginning she was not involved.

The three counts were filed under a penal code section that prohibits attorneys from releasing such information. Chapman could have faced up to a year in jail if convicted.

Her co-counsel, J.Tony Serra, who remains charged, has said the information came from his San Francisco office and was inadvertently released.

“We’ve received significant additional evidence,” Deputy City Attorney Edward Gauthier said at a hearing. ”... We’re convinced Ms. Chapman had nothing to do with this.”

Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan dismissed the charges.

Serra’s trial is set for July 30 before Ryan.

The lawyer has said that if he is convicted he will step out of the Olson case due to conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, the California State Bar continues to investigate both lawyers on the issue of the release of addresses and phone numbers.

Chapman said the Olson case can’t proceed until that probe is resolved.

Chapman and her lawyer, Dean Masserman, told reporters that the city attorney’s office never consulted them before filing the charges against her.

“The fact that the charges have been dismissed shows that what I said was true, the charges were groundless,” said Chapman.

“If the city attorney had contacted us before filing, they would have known this before dragging my name through the mud.”

She said the charges damaged her professional reputation, dismayed her family and distracted her and Serra from preparations for the Olson trial.

“This has thrown a giant monkey wrench into the Olson trial,” she said.

Gauthier refused comment outside court.

Chapman and Masserman said they suspected that the mayoral candidacy of City Attorney James Hahn affected the decision to file the charges.

“I think the motive was to please these police officers,” said Chapman. “The timing was suspect because the trial was coming up and so was the mayoral election.”

Hahn, who won the election Tuesday, was supported by the police union. His spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment.

The Olson case has been plagued with delays and lawyer substitutions during the two years since her arrest on charges in a 1976 indictment. It is now scheduled for Sept. 4.

Olson, 54, is accused of attempting to murder Los Angeles police officers by planting bombs under police cars in 1975 in retaliation for the deaths of six SLA members in a fiery shootout in 1974. The bombs did not explode.

Indicted under her former name, Kathleen Soliah, she remained a fugitive until her 1999 capture in Minnesota.

LOS ANGELES — A Superior Court judge has set a deadline for the Walt Disney Co. to turn over a list of patrons who suffered brain hemorrhages after riding on park attractions.

Judge Madeleine Flier ordered the company to turn over a detailed list by June 25 as part of a civil lawsuit that was brought by a San Diego woman who claims she was injured on the “Indiana Jones Adventure” ride at Disneyland and needed intensive medical care almost two years later.

Flier imposed a $2,500 fine on Disney May 25, accusing the company of repeatedly hindering release of the information. It is the second time Disney has been sanctioned in the case for failing to provide adequate information.

Deborah Bynum, 45, claims she developed an aneurysm and severe brain bleeding after going on the jarring, rattling ride in November 1998.

Her attorney, Barry Novack, said the injury threatens to destroy her dream of becoming a math teacher.

Bynum and her husband, Curtis, who’s in the Navy, are seeking unspecified punitive damages and reimbursement for medical expenses and loss of earning capacity.

Disney gave Novack a list, with few details, of eight reports of brain hemorrhaging on rides – seven at Disneyland and one at Disney World in Florida.

He said the list differed vastly from his research, which revealed Disney had received 313 report of various injuries on the Indiana Jones ride.

Disneyland spokesman Ray Gomez conceded the list was incomplete, saying the company relied on computer searches of claims made at the theme parks in Anaheim and Orlando.

He said the company is manually reviewing all the claims.

Novack said he first asked Disney for the documents 10 months ago. In February, a judge sanctioned Disney $1,523 for failing to provide the information.

Disney provided a list of eight incidents in May, but Flier issued the second sanction in May after calling Disney’s responses “too equivocal” and “very unimpressive.”

“There must be an effort to look up what it is that you’re being asked to look up,” she said.

The bills that made it include measures that would bar mandatory overtime for nurses except during a government-declared emergency and require businesses to provide facilities and breaks to allow working mothers to pump breast milk.

Another measure would allow Californians who owned a ferret before May 1 to legally keep it if it’s spayed or neutered. California is one of two states that bars the small, weasel-like animals as pets.

A bill to improve working conditions for the state’s approximately 800 shepherds got out of the Assembly. It would require meal breaks and set housing standards for the shepherds, who now work “virtually as indentured servants,” according to the bill’s author, Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood.

Another bill passed by the Assembly in the weeks leading up to the deadline would require a study to determine if carrying book-filled backpacks hurts students’ backs. Many schools have removed their lockers, forcing students to carry their books around all day.

California has 23 official state things, including a flag, motto, dance and song.

The Assembly thinks it also an official state tartan: a brightly colored plaid pattern like those used in Scottish kilts, to honor the contributions of Californians of Celtic heritage.

Both houses approved different bills requiring handgun buyers to give a thumbprint and get a state license. Supporters say the measures would make it tougher for people with criminal records to buy guns.

The two houses also passed different measures limiting confidential settlements of product-liability lawsuits.

Supporters say the bills would keep companies from hiding product defects from the public, but critics say they could give business competitors access to sensitive information.

About 95 percent of California children attend kindergarten, but it’s not mandatory. That would change if a bill approved by the Assembly becomes law.

The measure’s supporters say all children should be attending to avoid falling behind their classmates.

A bill setting nursing home staffing standards as tough as one caregiver for each five patients also made it out of the Assembly.

The bill’s supporters say California nursing homes rank near the bottom of the country in quality of care.

Among the hundreds of bills left behind were measures to ban the use of hand-held cellular telephones while driving, exempt drug possession charges from the state Three Strikes sentencing law, bar telemarketers from calling consumers on a state do-not-call list, and bar the access of minors to video games that contain graphic violence or explicit sex.

This year’s regular legislative session is scheduled to end on Sept. 14. Bills not enacted by then can be approved in 2002.

WHAT SURVIVED, WHAT DIDN’T

Some of the bills that survived and didn’t survive the Legislature’s deadline for bills to pass their first house:

Andy’s death uncovered a flawed Riverside County foster-care licensing process that failed to uncover Barroso’s troubled marriage to Robinson and his misdemeanor conviction for vandalism.

Gov. Gray Davis signed a law last September introduced by Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, after Andy’s killing. It helps fund background checks from the state Department of Justice for potential foster parents.

Andy was in Barroso’s care only two months. The boy had toilent-training setbacks and irritated the couple with his requests for drinks of water. The boy was kicked off a small blue chair by Barroso, who authorities said weighed about 300 pounds at the time. Andy later died when his head struck a dresser.

Andy’s limp body and swollen scrotum were smeared with dirt to make it appear he had fallen while playing outside the house. He died Aug. 2, 1999.

Andy lived in Hemet with his parents, Laura Utley and Thomas L. “Cowboy” Setzer as a 1-year-old. When social workers found filth and syringes in the apartment, Andy was removed from the home and was sent to live with a relative in Hemet and later lived with a Menifee couple, Mike and Lynn Henry, who wanted to adopt him. Social workers decided Andy would be better off elsewhere and sent him to live with Barroso and Robinson.

BRADBURY— A couple of bears took off early from the forest Friday and headed into the city for dip and a bite to eat.

The 300-pound black bears began wandering Los Angeles suburbs in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at midmorning and one paddled around a backyard pool before they separated and ambled back into the wilderness at midafternoon.

“They are just roaming, looking for food,” sheriff’s Lt. Debra Lenhart said. “They come down at least once a month. We are so close to the mountains. And they like to cool off in the pools.”

State Fish and Game workers monitored the bears and authorities asked residents to stay in their homes while the animals were in the area. Schools were also notified.

Officials reminded people not feed any bears that come down from the mountains.

Bears that repeatedly wander out of the 694,000-acre Angeles National Forest and find suburban amenities too alluring can face big trouble.

A bear with a fondness for hot tubs in neighboring Monrovia faced a death sentence after his 1994 capture, but a campaign by children won a reprieve from the governor’s office.

Dubbed Samson, the big bear became the star attraction of the Orange County Zoo until he was euthanized last month at age 27.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights approved a report Friday that found black voters’ ballots were disproportionately tossed out in Florida’s presidential elections and suggested widespread violations of the Voting Rights Act.

The commission’s six-month investigation of the contested Florida vote found the election was plagued by faulty machinery, problems with access to polling places, faulty purging of voter rolls and a lack of attention by state and county officials to evidence that growing numbers of voters would overwhelm outdated systems.

The commission adopted the report by a 6-2 vote, with both members appointed by Republicans voting no.

“We will send this report to the attorney general, president and Congress,” said Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry. “We will request a meeting with the attorney general.”

She said she hopes the report, which offered criticism of both Republican state officials and Democratic county officials, will spark a renewed interest in changing election laws and procedures. The commission will make specific recommendations to Congress after its next meeting.

She said that since the disputed elections “one of the most disappointing things to me is that I thought there would be more interest in electoral reform.”

The commission is asking the Justice Department to investigate the problems in Florida, determine whether the disparities were intentional and suggest what remedies might be needed.

The department said it hadn’t received the request for a meeting, but has been investigating complaints about the Florida election for months. The department is still investigating about a dozen of these complaints, but has dealt with the others, said Dan Nelson, a spokesman for the civil rights division.

The two members of the commission appointed by Republicans, Abigail Thernstrom and Russell Redenbaugh, said they didn’t accept the report’s findings and planned to offer a dissenting opinion later.

“The evidence from the hearings does not support the findings of this report,” Redenbaugh said.

Berry said she was pleased with the steps Florida has taken in ordering new modern equipment and setting aside money for voter education and poll worker training. But she said the state has not addressed access problems for the disabled, a lack of bilingual help for voters at the polls and a need for better monitoring of purges of voter rolls to remove felons. The report said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris ignored warning signs of problems and pleas for help from county officials.

Bush and Harris responded earlier this week that they felt the commission report was the work of a partisan group. The commission has four Democrats, three independents and one Republican. Bush’s office had no immediate response Friday.

The commission is considering what other states it should visit to examine election problems from last year, and plans to revisit Florida to see how changes are progressing.

“We plan to stick with this through the 2002 elections,” she said, noting that she’s heard from members of Congress including Chris Dodd, the new chairman of the Senate Rules Committee who plans to push for federal action on election law changes.

The commission heard from Allan Lichtman, a history professor at American University, who analyzed the Florida vote data for the commission — especially in three counties with some of the highest rates of discounted ballots — Duval County (Jacksonville), Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade County.

Lichtman said there was a “tremendous disparity” between the rates at which black and nonblack votes were not counted.

“I was quite amazed by what I found,” said Lichtman. For example, he said, in Duval County about one in five ballots cast by blacks was not counted.

The rate of black votes rejected was sometimes as much as three times or more the rate of nonblack votes rejected.

WASHINGTON — Around the country, top organizers in Sen. John McCain’s failed presidential bid say they feel it’s very unlikely he would leave the Republican Party to run for president in 2004 as an independent.

Political speculation went into overdrive last weekend about McCain, who sparked intense excitement among moderate Republicans, independents and some Democrats during the 2000 campaign. McCain had an extended visit at his Arizona home with Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a Democrat, at the same time as news reports that some supporters were talking informally about a possible McCain run as an independent.

Some analysts still predict it’s more of a question of when McCain will do that, rather than if he will. But close friends and advisers from around the country aren’t convinced.

“I just don’t think there’s a chance that John will switch parties,” said Deb Gullett, an Arizona Republican lawmaker who was a longtime McCain staff member. “He’s spent his entire career trying to broaden the base of the Republican Party. I just don’t buy it. He’s totally ingrained in the goals of the party.”

McCain said last weekend he has no intention of leaving the party and running for president as an independent. Close advisers say their speculative discussions of his future plans were blown out of proportion by the media, which had just feasted that week on the defection of Vermont Sen. James Jeffords from the GOP.

The flurry of interest about McCain struck a nerve, however.

“When I heard it on the radio I was thrilled,” said Maureen Barrows, a McCain campaign organizer from Exeter, N.H. “I thought ... this is too good to be true.”

Barrows drives around with her “McCain for President” bumper sticker and frequently gets a honk of appreciation from passing motorists.

McCain won the New Hampshire primary last year before ultimately losing the GOP nomination to George W. Bush.

“There’s certainly a huge constituency that would support him,” said the Republican, a county commissioner in Rockingham County.

When a trailer featuring McCain talking about gun safety was shown at a Washington movie theater last weekend before “Pearl Harbor,” the audience broke into scattered applause and someone shouted: “McCain for President.”

In Washington state, McCain supporter Ralph Monroe fielded calls from many Republicans over the weekend about the talk of McCain and the presidential race.

“We had quite a number of calls to our home,” said Monroe, a businessman and former state co-chair with his wife for McCain. “They trust John McCain and realize he’s trying to move the Republican Party back to the middle.”

Monroe said he believes McCain will remain the Republican Party’s power broker, but noted: “I think that John McCain has a very dedicated group of followers all across America, and wherever he wants to go, they will follow.”

In Michigan, state Sen. John Schwarz said he thinks the recent McCain activity has been about pulling the GOP back toward the center, not a prelude to an independent run.

“He has his pulse on where the majority of people are more than the party does right now,” said Schwarz, who was a co-chairman of McCain’s Michigan campaign. “The party would be well served to swing the turret more toward the middle.”

While many McCain supporters said they don’t anticipate anything as dramatic as an independent presidential candidacy, former New Hampshire McCain chairman Peter Spalding said it’s impossible to rule it out.

“It’s so dependent on what type of position President Bush is in a couple of years from now and what happens in the midterm elections,” he said. “If the Republicans hold their own, it takes some of the steam out of a candidacy by McCain.”

An independent run for president just isn’t a good fit, say longtime McCain friends like Hank Brown, a former U.S. senator from Colorado who now serves as president of the University of Northern Colorado.

“I know John McCain well and I think it doesn’t fit who he is,” Brown said. “I think it’s silly speculation by those who don’t know John McCain very well.”

Autoworker Kenneth Taylor of Lansing, Mich., an independent who often votes Democratic, backed McCain in the Michigan primary and says he would love to see McCain try again.

“He’s a determined enough individual he might just do it to prove to himself he could do it,” Taylor said.

“He may have been the son of an admiral, but he made it through six years of prison and he didn’t fold,” Taylor said McCain’s POW experience in the Vietnam War. “I was attracted to that.”

———

EDITOR’S NOTE — Will Lester covers polling and politics for The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — As President Bush prepares for a potentially contentious European trip, the White House and congressional leaders sought to soothe the environmental worries of allies Friday by promising more money for research and technology on global warming.

Bush plans to commit the United States to combat the global warming problem and announce new money for research and technology aimed at reducing climate change, advisers said in advance of his Monday trip. Bearing similar goals, Sens. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, proposed Friday to spend nearly $5 billion over the next decade to invent cutting-edge technologies.

Senior White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bush will announce new money to advance scientific research and encourage new technologies to combat global warming. They would not say how much he was proposing,

but said it was dramatically

lower than the Byrd-

Stevens package.

That package would create “a major research effort to invent the advanced technologies that we will need to begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming,” Byrd said.

“It is virtually indisputable that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are rising and that mankind is contributing to this rise,” he said. Global warming refers to a rise in the Earth’s temperature that many scientists blame on heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting from the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities.

A report from the National Academy of Sciences that had been requested by the White House concluded that the Earth’s temperature is rising, mainly because of human activities, and dire climate changes could occur this century. Bush had expressed skepticism about global warming and requested the report to determine the science behind the phenomenon.

Hours before leaving for a round of talks in Europe in the coming week,

Bush will meet with his global warming task force to announce the proposal and commit the United States to helping to solve the problem, aides said Friday.

Bush hopes to ease tension with U.S. allies by agreeing that there is a problem — even if his solution lacks the regulatory teeth of the international pact negotiated in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, requiring industrial nations to reduce greenhouse gases by specified amounts.

He and several Cabinet members last week were preparing a new position on global warming that, unlike Kyoto’s mandates, offers mostly voluntary initiatives and flexible emissions caps for polluters as an alternative to Kyoto’s mandates.

“My expectation has been they would announce principles first,” said Kevin Fay, executive director of the International Climate Change Partnership, who has discussed the issue with the White House. “They’re looking to beef up what they can do domestically, then re-engage in the international process.”

Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, which represents several multinational corporations that favor the Kyoto approach, said: “There is a lot of interest in having the president say something before he goes to Europe.”

“My sense is nothing is off the table. There’s still a range of voluntary programs all the way to regulatory programs,” said Claussen, who also has been involved in White House talks. “The litmus test is really whether we’re going to do something that’s mandatory.”

Five months before the 1997 pact was signed, Byrd and Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., co-authored a Senate resolution saying any global warming accord mandating greenhouse gas reductions for industrial countries should also require them for developing nations.

“This is a major positive step. It’s a powerful policy statement that these two senators aren’t going to watch President Bush fiddle while the planet burns,” said David Hawkins, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Climate Center.

After backing out of an international climate change treaty and breaking a campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, Bush’s job approval ratings fell and European allies were outraged.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Timothy McVeigh awaited transfer Friday to the windowless brick building where he will be put to death – a journey that will be his last chance to see the sky and breathe fresh air.

The 33-year-old McVeigh abandoned all efforts Thursday to stave off execution for the Oklahoma City bombing after back-to-back defeats in court.

He is set to die by chemical injection at 8 a.m. EDT Monday in the first execution carried out by the federal government since 1963. Prison officials said the chemicals that will be used for the execution have already arrived.

McVeigh is expected to be moved from his cell to the death house no later than Sunday morning, 24 hours before the execution. Prison officials would not say exactly when he would be moved, citing security concerns.

McVeigh has already instructed prison officials on what he wants done with his body, his money and any belongings.

Prison officials and McVeigh’s lawyers would not say what will happen to the body other than that it will be turned over to a representative of the family.

Before his original execution date a month ago, McVeigh had given away most of his belongings to fellow death row inmates, including a picture of himself inscribed with the words: “My head has been bloodied, but it remains unbowed.”

A final meal of his choosing will be served at noon on Sunday. U.S. Bureau of Prisons spokesman Dan Dunne said McVeigh has not yet selected his meal.

One complication surfaced Friday, when a federal judge in Pittsburgh ordered the execution videotaped for a case alleging the death penalty violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But an appeals judge delayed the order Friday and a panel of judges later overturned it, blocking the videotaping.

Also, one of the people McVeigh selected to witness his execution, author Gore Vidal, announced that he would not be coming to Terre Haute. Vidal is writing a story about McVeigh for Vanity Fair magazine.

The magazine released a statement Friday saying that Vidal is unable to make the trip from his home in Italy because he didn’t have enough advance notice.

Jim Cross, special assistant at the federal prison, said McVeigh had to submit his list of witnesses 30 days before the execution. He said it will be up to the warden whether McVeigh is allowed to substitute another witness.

McVeigh was convicted of murder and condemned for the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building that killed 168 people in the deadliest act of terrorism on U.S. soil.

In Oklahoma City, about 300 survivors and bombing victims’ relatives will watch the execution on a secure, closed-circuit TV broadcast.

“I’ve heard some people kind of plan to celebrate, and that’s up to every individual,” said Tom Kight, who lost a stepdaughter in the bombing. “I certainly plan no celebration.”

For security reasons, government offices in and around Terre Haute will be closed on Monday, and the start of summer school was postponed for a day.

McVeigh has been housed in the federal death row Special Confinement Unit — known as “Dog” unit because it was once the “D” wing of the prison — since July 1999, when he and the 19 other men facing federal death sentences were moved to Terre Haute.

For the transfer to the death house, McVeigh will be shackled at the arms and legs and swiftly moved past the cells of several of the death row inmates he has come to know. He will step outside briefly, then enter a prison van where his view through the windows will be obscured by heavy metal grilles. He will not be visible to any of the 1,300 other prisoners.

This carefully choreographed transfer, in which McVeigh will travel only about 500 yards, has been planned since 1993, practiced repeatedly so everyone knows where to be from the moment McVeigh leaves his cell until guards close the door on his 9-by-14-foot holding cell in the death house.

“There’s a team of people who’ve been formulated for the purpose of this execution,” Dunne said. “They’ve been trained here, we’ve done mock exercises and we’re training this week, just to ensure that everything is done in a coordinated manner.”

RYE BROOK, N.Y. — The stickiest problem at Ridge Street Elementary School this year wasn’t discipline in the classroom. It was peanut butter in the lunchroom.

In a situation repeated in schools across the nation, families debated the right to safeguard a profoundly allergic child versus the right to eat a sandwich made with the all-American spread.

“We were obligated, legally and ethically, to be responsive to this child’s needs,” Principal Roberta Kirshbaum said.

“I would say 95 percent of our population became educated and supportive and the other 5 percent found it just didn’t fit with them.”

The discussion at Ridge Street started when a 5-year-old girl, so allergic she could die if she licked peanut butter from a fingertip, entered kindergarten.

Her parents alerted school officials in advance.

“I approached them with my daughter’s medical history, and knowing what needed to be done to make her safe,” said the mother, who asked not to be identified to protect her daughter’s privacy.

The girl couldn’t come into contact with peanut butter or anything with peanut oil.

So the school stopped selling peanut butter sandwiches and other peanut products, set up a “peanut-free table” covered with medical-exam paper in the lunchroom, and urged parents not to pack peanut-based lunches and snacks. If kindergartners came in with peanut lunches, they were sent to a separate room to eat.

Several parents objected, saying that their kids were being pressured into giving up peanut butter entirely and that they hadn’t had time to prepare.

Caryn Furst said her daughter has a metabolic disorder, needs protein at every meal and would eat only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“She had to have it,” Furst said. “A lot of parents are trying to be sensitive, but if you’ve got a child who wants peanut butter – that’s it.”

Ultimately, all sides came to terms. “We did a lot of education,” Kirshbaum said, “and we tried to compromise to the extent that nobody got hurt.”

Three million Americans are allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, and about 75 die each year from reactions that lead to anaphylactic shock.

Thousands of kids now carry EpiPens – emergency doses of epinephrine in a spring-loaded injector – or store them with the school nurse.

The importance of protecting allergic children was vividly demonstrated last month in Spokane, Wash., when a 9-year-old boy, known to be allergic, died after being given a peanut butter cookie during a field trip.

Some other foods can kill, but nuts seem to be a prime danger. And it is peanut butter, long a favorite with kids and the adults who pack their lunches, that has put schools in the middle.

“It’s the all-American sandwich,” said Carla Blaha of Ossining, who founded a support group for parents after her son was diagnosed.

“You tell people, ‘This can kill my son’ and still it doesn’t click that actually something like peanut butter can kill someone.”

Some schools have declared themselves “peanut-free,” though most are coming up with a more moderate policy.

Schools that haven’t had a dangerously allergic pupil can expect one soon.

“I think every school at some time will be affected,” said Joseph Rowe, principal of Stedwick Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Md., who was confronted two years ago with a severely allergic first-grader.

Peanut allergies among schoolchildren were “barely on the radar” a decade ago, said Dr. Robert Goldman, a New York allergist and immunologist who specializes in pediatric cases.

“Now I’m seeing a tremendous number of cases,” he said. “It seems like the incidence is really increasing. As to why, I don’t think anyone in the world could tell you for sure.”

Among the theories offered: Modern agriculture has changed the peanut itself, or the human immune system is trying to find something to attack in an age of vaccinations.

Skeptics suggest children are simply being taken to doctors and diagnosed more often.

Some children are so sensitive that they react to vapors from peanut shells. Dr. Clifford Bassett, an allergist at New York University Medical Center, said one-five-thousandth of a teaspoon of a food containing peanuts is enough to kill some people.

On the Net:

American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology: http://www.aaaai.org

SAN JOSE — Network equipment maker Juniper Networks Inc. said Friday it will cut its work force by as much as 9 percent, or about 100 jobs, as second-quarter earnings and revenue will fall well below Wall Street expectations.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper now expects revenue to range from $200 million to $210 million for the three months ending June 30.

That’s down from original forecasts of $300 million to $330 million provided in its April earnings report.

Earnings for the period will be 8 cents to 9 cents a share, sharply down from the 24 cents a share anticipated by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial/First Call.

The company said cost-cutting measures will include the job cuts and a one-time charge of up to $45 million. Juniper had 1,162 employees as of March 31.

“Obviously we would prefer to be in markets that grow without hesitation or pause,” said Scott Kriens, chairman and CEO of Juniper Networks.

“However, we remain committed to and capable of running the business profitably and successfully under all conditions, including this current period of absorption.”

Shares of Juniper were down 18 percent, or $8.38, to $38.14, in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Network equipment makers such as Juniper and Cisco Systems Inc. were hard hit as the economy slowed down and the Internet bubble burst last year.

Demand for routers, switches and other tools of the Net trade fell sharply after big network rollouts were canceled, dot coms failed and established companies saw no reason to continue expanding.

Unlike the microprocessor industry, which has recently showed some signs of life, there’s no indication network equipment manufacturing companies have hit bottom, said Ashwin Navin, an analyst at Epoch Partners.

“Things seem to be getting worse,” he said, adding he does not see a return to growth until the middle of next year.

Kriens said the source of the weakness is not a loss of market share or fierce competition.

“We have not caused anybody else’s slowdown in this market nor has any other company caused ours,” he said. “We are all in a market where less is being spent, and the money that is spent is being parted with much more carefully.”

SAN JOSE — Intel Corp.’s revenue for the second quarter will be within forecasts, signaling a possible end to the months-long slide and a return to stability in the semiconductor industry.

For the past three quarters, the world’s largest computer chip maker slashed its revenue estimates as demand for processors and other semiconductors declined amid an economic slowdown.

But during Intel’s mid-quarter update Thursday, chief financial officer Andy Bryant said the company’s revenue, gross margins and expenses will fall within the low end of ranges provided in April.

Intel said its core microprocessor business continued to show stability and is on target, while its smaller communications and networking segments are weaker than anticipated. The company reaffirmed its expectation of a stronger second half of the year.

In April, Intel officials estimated revenue between $6.2 billion and $6.8 billion, a gross margin of about 49 percent and expenses between $2.2 billion and $2.3 billion.

“The quarter is proceeding essentially as expected,” Bryant said.

In recent months, high-tech companies including Intel have repeatedly warned that earnings and revenue expectations at the beginning of the quarter were not panning out toward the end.

Intel’s latest announcement indicates that, for now, the company’s main businesses have stabilized enough to be predictable, Bryant said.

Analysts and investors were anxiously awaiting Thursday’s report for any evidence of a turnaround or whether the slowdown would persist throughout the year.

“It’s important because the keystone company in the sector is saying there’s no change in their outlook,” said Jonathan Joseph, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney.

Shares of Intel rose $1.76 to $32.92 in after-hours trading after closing up $1.34 at $31.16 on the Nasdaq Stock Market before the outlook was released.

Intel could still run into pitfalls. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is a stronger competitor than ever, and personal computer makers are lowering prices to attract customers.

Also, computer maker Hewlett-Packard Co., an Intel customer, warned Wednesday demand is down in Europe, Asia and Latin America. That could lead to a lower demand for Intel’s products down the road.

“Intel doesn’t sell PCs. They sell microprocessors,” said Dan Niles, a Lehman Brothers analyst. “It will take a while for them to see that because they’re one step removed.”

TEHRAN, Iran — Reformist President Mohammad Khatami headed for a landslide victory in Iran Saturday, a widely expected result that would lend powerful support to his drive to bring more freedoms to the Islamic nation, according to early voting results.

Final results in Friday’s balloting from at least six voting districts and one province showed Khatami with vote tallies ranging from 75 percent to 95 percent, according to the government-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

The vote, which was expected to continue it lopsided trend, will give Khatami a mandate to push forward with his challenge to the controls of Iran’s conservative clerics and their tight grip on power.

The results reported by IRNA came from the final count in polling districts inside towns and cities in southeastern and northeastern Iran. In addition, the agency also said Khatami received between 88 percent and 93 percent of thousands of votes from Iranians who cast ballots abroad.

Illam Province in western Iran gave Khatami 80 percent of the vote, according to officials at the Interior Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity. They added Qasr-e-Shirin, a town on the Iraqi border, went nearly 90 percent for Khatami.

Khatami faced nine challengers who ranged from hard-liners to those seeking to fight corruption and improve the economy.

Ahmad Tavakoli was running a distant second – with tallies ranging from 2 percent to 18 percent in the six districts and one province, according to IRNA. Tavakoli, an economist, had campaigned on pledges to improve the economy.

Interior Ministry sources predicted that turnout from Friday’s election would surpass 70 percent – or 30 million of the 42.1 million Iranians who have reached the voting age of 16.

In 1997, Khatami received nearly about 20 million votes, or 70 percent of those cast, en route to defeating a conservative opponent.

Now, the real test begins for Khatami.

Two potent forces – Khatami’s popular movement and the nation’s Islamic overseers – offer visions that seem difficult to reconcile and strike at the heart of how the country should be managed.

Khatami sees an “Islamic democracy” with room for some Western-inspired rights, fewer social restrictions and better contacts with the West. Conservatives have reacted harshly against changes they fear could erode their enormous influence over nearly every aspect of life.

But it’s unclear how far and fast can he integrate concepts of openness in a nation built upon the uncompromising values of an Islamic revolution 22 years ago.

For reformists, the backdrop of the election was deeply symbolic and worrisome. Prominent activists and journalists languish in jail and dozens of publications remain banned.

“It’s all about power and where it comes from – clerics or the people,” said a political analyst, Mohammad Hadi Semati.

From sweltering Tehran neighborhoods to isolated mountain hamlets, more than 45,000 polling stations were set up. Helicopters carried ballot boxes to the most remote villages. Guards were given voting material for jailed dissidents and other prisoners, the Interior Ministry said.

Voting tents were erected in desert outposts or in cemeteries for those taking part in the Friday ritual of visiting family graves.

The most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, voted from his house arrest quarters in the holy city of Qom, the nation’s center of Islamic study.

“Democracy and freedom have not been implemented,” Montazeri wrote in a communique sent to The Associated Press.

Also at stake were 16 parliament seats and two seats on the panel that elects the supreme leader.

The wild card is Khatami’s huge popularity, which has clearly shaken up the political status quo.

“This vote should convince the unpopular hard-liners to stop standing against the people’s wishes,” said a Khatami supporter in Tehran, 18-year-old Hussein Dadi.

Young women wearing makeup and brightly colored head scarves — a sign of the easing social rules under Khatami — came to watch him vote.

“We love you,” they chanted to Khatami, a 58-year-old, mid-ranking cleric who once served as culture minister.

Young people represent the bedrock of Khatami’s support and form an awesome front. About 60 percent of Iran’s 62 million people are under 25 years old — too young to have direct connection with the revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed monarchy.

JERUSALEM — CIA chief George Tenet brought together Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs Friday in a high-level joint effort to stabilize a cease-fire and prepare the way for resuming peace negotiations.

The three-way security meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah came a day after Tenet met separately with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and security commanders.

Tenet’s mediation sparked angry rallies by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, during which the CIA chief was burned in effigy. Hamas accused Tenet of trying to pit Palestinians against each other amid Israeli demands for a crackdown on militants, and it vowed the intefadeh, or uprising, would not stop.

The European Union has also taken a direct role: placing security experts at two West Bank friction points to help keep the cease-fire, EU and Palestinian officials said.

Israel has rejected the presence of any international observers, and EU officials were careful to say the experts were not observers.

Twenty-four Europeans are working to guarantee the cease-fire, particularly in the West Bank town of Beit Jalla and the Gaza Strip areas of Nitzarim settlement and Rafah, a Palestinian political official said on condition of anonymity. The EU teams have met regularly with Palestinian security and reviewed patrols on the ground, where Palestinian police have been trying to keep gunmen from nearing flashpoints, Palestinian officials said.

Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire on May 22.

Arafat called for an end to violence June 1, after a suicide bomber killed 20 Israelis in an attack on a Tel Aviv beachfront disco.

Violence continued Friday at a relatively low ebb. A roadside shooting near Ofra settlement outside the West Bank town of Ramallah injured an Israeli civilian, the army said.

In the Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, two Palestinians were wounded when Israeli soldiers fired bullets and tear gas at youths throwing stones after Friday prayers. Dr. Khalil Moussa of Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis said the two had been hit with live ammunition. Overnight, Palestinians fired mortar shells at an Israeli military outpost and a Jewish settlement in Gaza and set off an explosive near another base.

About 2,000 Palestinians joined a Hamas rally in Ramallah, burning a U.S. flag, Tenet’s picture and a banner that read “Tenet go home.” A cardboard and paper model of site of the Tel Aviv bombing was doused with fuel and set ablaze.

In the West Bank town of Nablus, about 500 people demonstrated, burning Tenet in effigy and urging him in chants “not to equate the killer with the victim.”

“This man and his administration are trying to turn our struggle against the Zionist occupiers into a Palestinian-Palestinian struggle by inciting the brothers in the Palestinian National Authority against their own people,” al-Rantissi said. “This man will fail to do so.”

Nabil Aburdeneh, an aide to Arafat, said further U.S. involvement is needed to bolster the cease-fire: “This a good opportunity, but it’s still like sand in the wind.”

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer charged that radical Islamic groups, along with Arafat’s Force 17 guard unit are still carrying out attacks and planning more. He said Israeli intelligence has picked up more warnings about attacks in recent days than ever before, and he blamed Arafat.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Nabil Shaath complained that even though Arafat took risks to declare a cease-fire, the Israelis keep criticizing him.

“Since the cease-fire started, not even an encouragement by the Israeli leadership has been given. ... On the contrary. It’s always insults,” he said.

In meetings with Tenet on Thursday, the Israelis handed over a list of several dozen Palestinian militants, demanding that Arafat’s police arrest them, said Raanan Gissin, a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The Palestinians refused to consider making arrests, saying they were responsible for their people’s security, not Israel’s.

Palestinians have told Tenet that the security and political aspects of the conflict must not be separated, according to a participant, who insisted on anonymity. The Palestinians want Israel to commit to confidence-building measures, especially a freeze in Jewish settlement construction. Israel demands a full stop to the violence first.

IKEDA, Japan — In 15 minutes of horror, a man brandishing a kitchen knife walked into an elementary school Friday and wordlessly began slashing at students, killing eight young children.

The attack, during which the man made his way through four classrooms before being subdued by a teacher and a vice principal, was the worst mass killing in Japan since a deadly nerve gas attack on Tokyo’s subways six years ago.

Fifteen people – 13 children and two teachers – were wounded, and eight remained in serious condition Saturday. The suspect, a 37-year-old unemployed man with what police said was a history of mental problems, was taken into custody at the scene.

An unidentified schoolgirl, talking to Japanese reporters, said that during the attack one student somehow managed to get onto the school’s public address system.

“There was a shriek,” the girl said. “Then I heard a cry for help.”

A group of bloodied children fled to a grocery store across the street in the mostly residential suburb of Ikeda, outside Japan’s second-largest city of Osaka, 255 miles west of Tokyo.

“I saw one of them, a boy, with blood all over his body,” cashier Ikiyo Iriye said. “He had been stabbed in the back.” The dead children º seven girls and one boy º were first and second grader, ranging in age from 6 to 8.

On Saturday, National broadcaster NHK television reported that it appeared from the location of stab wounds to the back that some of the children were chased down as they fled and that interrogation would focus on the motive for the attack.

An Osaka prefectural (state) police spokesman could not confirm the contents of the report. However, police did say they were intensifying their investigation.

Japan has long enjoyed a crime rate much lower than that of other developed nations, but that is changing. The Japanese are asking themselves why, and wondering what can be done about it. Violent crime is on the rise, and strict gun laws mean most of the attacks are committed with knives.

Friday’s slashing was the deadliest mass assault in Japan since a doomsday cult released sarin gas on the Tokyo subways in 1995, killing 12 people and sickening thousands.

The attack came as children were anticipating a day off Saturday for the annual local iris festival. The festival was canceled and classes were suspended indefinitely.

Police identified the attacker as Mamoru Takuma and said he used a kitchen knife with a six-inch blade. After his arrest, he was taken to a hospital with what were reportedly self-inflicted wounds, then turned over to police, a blue hood hiding his head, blood splattered across his legs.

It was not clear what might have led to the attack. Police said the suspect told them he had taken 10 times the daily dose of an unspecified anti-depressant.

Takuma told police he was “sick of everything” and wanted to be caught and executed, a police official in Osaka said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He told police he had tried to kill himself repeatedly but always failed, the official said.

Authorities said Takuma told police he’d been having trouble sleeping and considered trying to kill himself Friday morning, but then got in his car, put a bag holding the knife on the seat next to him and drove into Ikeda from his home in nearby Mino.

Takuma was arrested in March 1999 and accused of putting a tranquilizer in the tea of four teachers at a school where he worked as a janitor, but he was never prosecuted because he had psychological problems, said Nobuharu Sugita, a police official in Itami, near Osaka.

Two of the children stabbed Friday died at the scene. The other six died at a hospital, Fire Department spokesman Tetsuo Higashimoto said.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the attack “heartbreaking.”

Osaka Gov. Fusae Ota said authorities were sending psychiatrists to offer counseling to the children. “We’re doing what we can for them,” she said. “This is unforgivable”

The bloodshed began when the attacker walked into a ground-floor classroom from a terrace during a break in the morning lesson, while students sat in rows at their desks, police said.

He began slashing at the children in the back of the room, then moved into the hall without saying a word, and made his way through three more classrooms before being subdued.

After the attack, hundreds of children in navy school uniforms sat in rows on the playground as fellow students received treatment on stretchers nearby. Later, frantic parents raced into the hospital where the wounded children were taken.

The mother of a 10-year-old fifth grader said her son told her he and his classmates were taking a break after a lesson when they were rushed out onto the playground.

“He can’t believe something like that could have happened,” said the woman, who declined to give her name. “It’s almost like he was having a dream.”

The elite school operated by Osaka Education University has nearly 700 students.

“This kind of thing should never happen,” Education Minister Atsuko Toyama said. “Schools should be places where children can feel safe and secure.”

As the only public school west of the Mississippi with a crew team, Berkeley High has a strong tradition that no other team in the area can boast. And now the ’Jackets are getting started on a new tradition: this weekend they will enter two boats in the U.S. Rowing Youth Invitational Championships in Cincinnati, their first trip to the national event since its inception.

Thanks to their second-place finishes at the Southwest Regional Junior Rowing Association Championships at Lake Natoma three weeks ago, the men’s varsity four and men’s varsity double will race against the best the nation has to offer today and Saturday. The top two finishers from each of the nine regions in the country were invited to the event, and according to Berkeley’s coach, it didn’t take long for the ’Jackets to accept.

“The kids were really excited about qualifying, and they asked immediately if we could go,” Eric Christiani, the boys’ third-year coach, said. “Their enthusiasm was very encouraging, because it’s not a position we’ve been in before. It basically comes down to three more weeks of waking up early and putting in the hard work.”

But that hard work is just what one team member will remember the most. Matt Renner, the varsity four coxswain, said there was never a thought of turning down the chance to go to the nationals.

“It’s exactly what I was wishing for,” said Renner, a senior who will be on the Cal team next year. “The hard work is one of the things I’m most proud of. Not everyone is willing to get up and practice six mornings a week, but I’ve never regretted a minute of it.”

The varsity four boat will be manned by Eric Davidson, who will be Renner’s teammate at Cal next year, sophomore Jordan Bice, and juniors Yoshi Katsuura and David Gaber, with Renner at the helm. Katsuura and Bice will also row in the double boat.

Renner and his oarsmen will have to adjust to using a different boat in Cincinnati. The boat they have used this season was brand new, purchased in large part thanks to a big fundraising effort by team member Brandon Caesar. The boat was named for Caesar’s father, Phillip, who passed away last year.

But the team has no way of transporting the boat and will borrow one from a local club. In the Phillip Caesar, Renner sat in the bow; in the new boat, he will be in the stern. Renner said he didn’t know how big of a difference the new boat and the new position would make.

With just two seniors among the five ’Jackets, Christiani hopes this won’t be a one-time visit to Cincinnati for the ’Jackets.

“In some ways I’m approaching it as an important learning experience,” he said. “I hope we do as well as possible this year, but hopefully we’ll be back with an even larger team.”

For Renner and Davidson, this will be their last race for Berkeley. Renner said it was a big goal for him to make it to nationals before he graduated.

“I know a bunch of the alumni, and I think it’s great to be the first team in the school’s history to get to this point,” he said. “It seems like we’re always fighting from behind against the bigger private clubs, and it makes me proud because we’re so tough.”

As California and the nation mark the 20th anniversary of the first reported cases of AIDS on June 5th, Assemblywoman Dion Aroner (D-Berkeley) expressed concern that California is failing to do all it can to prevent new HIV infections among its residents, and urged support for Assembly Bill 1292, the Pharmacy Sale and Disease Prevention Act (Aroner), which would allow for the sale of syringes at licensed pharmacies without a prescription.

“Studies show that broadening access to sterile syringes helps prevent the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C, and yet California continues to be one of only six states that require a prescription to purchase syringes,” stated Aroner, who Chairs the Democratic Caucus. “As home to the first reported AIDS cases, you might think that California would lead the nation, but in this regard, we are lagging far behind. Unfortunately, this failure to lead is costing lives.”

AB 1292 would allow licensed pharmacies to sell sterile syringes without a prescription, and would also protect individuals from prosecution for possessing syringes, which is currently a misdemeanor crime in California. AB 1292 would also require that pharmacists provide information to consumers about safe disposal of syringes and would allow pharmacists to provide information about the availability of drug treatment, HIV testing and other services in the area. Participation in the program by state-licensed pharmacists would be voluntary.

"This bill recognizes the important role pharmacists play in public health and disease prevention,” said Elizabeth Johnson, Pharm.D., Senior Vice President of the California Pharmacists Association, which endorsed the bill. “By participating in such a program, pharmacists would not only help prevent HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users, but would also provide an important service to diabetics and others with health conditions that require them to obtain prescriptions.”

A new national survey by the independent Kaiser Family Foundation shows that 61 percent of Americans favor allowing injection drug users to purchase clean needles from a licensed pharmacist in order to stop the spread of HIV. Support for this policy is particularly strong among those in the Western region of the country, where 65% favor non-prescription sales (compared with 58 percent, 59 percent and 62 percent in the Midwest, South and Northeast, respectively). (Complete results of this HIV public opinion survey can be found on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website at: www.kff.org/docs/AIDSat20)

“On the issue of syringe access, public opinion is clearly ahead of public policy,” stated Aroner. “It’s time for the Legislature to follow the lead and adopt this important disease prevention measure.”

State law in five states (California, Illinois, New Jersey, Delaware and Massachusetts) and pharmacy regulation in one (Pennsylvania) prohibit the sale of syringes without a prescription. Though originally designed to deter drug use, there is no evidence to suggest that prescription laws have led to lower levels of injections drug use in these six states.

In contrast, evidence from Connecticut -- which amended its state law to allow for over-the-counter sale of syringes in 1992 – shows encouraging results. Following the change in state law, the percentage of injection drug users (IDUs) who reported syringe sharing during the past 30 days decreased by 40 percent (52 percent before versus 31percent after). In addition, more IDUs reported having purchased a syringe from a pharmacy after the new law (19 percent before versus 78 percent after) and fewer IDUs reported obtaining syringes from the street (74 percent before versus 31 percent after). Since Connecticut’s action, New York, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island have also amended their state laws to allow for the sale of syringes through pharmacies without a prescription.

Currently, injection drug users must purchase syringes on the streets, where quality is uncertain and costs are high. If they live in a community that has a needle exchange program, they may exchange used, potentially contaminated syringes for new ones in order to protect themselves from disease transmission. However, needle exchange programs are not available statewide due to California law that requires the declaration of a local emergency in order to legalize syringe exchange.

***

Since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first cases of AIDS on June 5, 1981, more than 120,800 Californians have been diagnosed with AIDS, the most advanced form of HIV disease, and nearly 74,000 have died. The California State Office of AIDS reports that 19 percent all AIDS cases were related to injection drug use with contaminated syringes. The link between injection drug use and HIV is particularly strong for women. In California, 37 percent of cumulative AIDS cases among women were IDU-related.

City Manager Weldon Rucker has taken steps to organize the city’s traffic and pedestrian safety efforts after two traffic specialists from different departments recently quit.

“The structure we had was feeding the conflict between the traffic engineer and the transportation planner,” Rucker said. “It’s not a conflict of personalities, but philosophy, approach and priorities.”

When Joe Kott, the city’s first transportation planner, quit on May 25, three weeks after he started, Rucker took steps to consolidate and organize the city’s traffic staff. During an exit interview, Kott told Rucker that the priorities of the Planning and Development Department were different than those of the Public Works Department.

Kott said, in an interview on Thursday, the two departments were not at odds but their different priorities made it difficult for them to work together.

Traffic Engineer Jeff Knolls, quit last December after eight months because he was offered a better paying position that was closer to his home. But Director of Public Works Rene Cardinaux said that Knolls also cited departmental organization as a factor in his leaving the city.

Advance Planning Manager Karen Haney-Owens said there is a cultural difference between the two departments. She said the Planning Department is used to the public process, listening to ideas and finding consensus and the Department of Public Works is used to looking at a project from a more practical and technological standpoint.

Cardinaux said one difference between the two positions as one of mindset. “The transportation planner creates a plan and engineers try to solve the plan’s problems,” he said.

Rucker said that when the city fills the two vacant positions, they will be working out of the City Manger’s Office temporarily, until a better organized system can be worked out.

“We’re having a little marriage over here,” Rucker said. “We’ll be trying out different organizational models until we figure out which one works best.”

Rucker said he has made traffic issues one of his priorities in light of pedestrian injuries and deaths and the general increases in traffic congestion throughout the Bay Area.

Kott, who returned to his former job as a traffic planner for Palo Alto, said Berkeley has tremendous assets for innovative solutions to transportation problems. “There’s AC Transit, BART and good geography for cycling. There’s also an interested and creative community with good ideas,” he said. “Berkeley has a terrific opportunity to become a model city as far as transportation goes. But currently the city’s plans just aren’t coming online.”

Kott said despite the good intentions of city commissioners, there is also a reluctance for the various traffic-related commissions to work together.

Kott, who’s job description included implementing the Bicycle Master Plan and developing the Bike Boulevards, spoke very highly of the Transportation Commission. He said the commissioners are dedicated to making transportation safer and cleaner in Berkeley.

“The problem is they are only one of 43 boards and commissions in Berkeley. They don’t have oversight on road paving, which is the domain of the Public Works Commission,” Kott said. “And, as anyone who rides a bicycle knows, the condition of the road surface is critical to biking issues.”

Sarah Syed, the project manager for Berkeley’s Safe Routes to School program, said staffing problems and lack of coordination between the Department of Public Works and the Planning Department nearly lost the city a $450,000 grant from the state.

The SRTS program examines traffic flow in the vicinity of Willard Middle School and LeConte Primary School and is mandated to create safe routes for students to walk and bicycle to school, according to Syed.

“We are trying to improve crossings around the schools, provide cages for secured bike parking and develop walking and biking education programs,” she said.

Syed said the program nearly lost its funding because plans that required input from the two departments weren’t sufficiently prepared to submit to the state. She said at the last minute, the Planning Department took the lead on the project, saving the grant, although the process was rushed.

Syed said city missed a May 22 deadline to apply for another SRTS grant because the Planning Department was too short-staffed to have someone write the grant request.

Rucker said it’s a bit of a trick to find the right kind of staff for city transportation jobs because of Berkeley’s well-known penchant for public participation.

“Berkeley is a very engaging and participatory community,” Rucker said. “I try to convey during interviews not only the number of community meetings there are, but their intensity as well because not everybody is suited to work in Berkeley.”

The controversy regarding Beth El’s proposed synagogue, school, and community center is about Codornices Creek and those city policies and ordinances that protect creeks and neighborhoods from incursions by large, active institutions. Rather than address these issues, project supporters have chosen to portray criticism as an attack upon the goodness of Beth El and upon Jews generally. This is an attempt to silence critics and to intimidate decision-makers with the threat that they may be called anti-Semites. Many, like myself, who fault this particular design, are Jewish. Some are also members of Beth El.

This project is controversial because it reveals contradictions between our values and the practice we would make of them. We do not value intimidation. We do value religious freedom, fairness, dissent, and the environment. The Jewish tradition of "Tikkun Olam" teaches us to heal and restore the world. This ancient tenet does not accept the bare minimum when we can do better. It is consistent with the spirit of modern environmental stewardship. Only against the image of a daylighted creek can the project’s true impact be appraised. The EIR evaded this responsibility. Now, however, The Urban Creeks Council has received a grant to plan the restoration of Codornices Creek. This grant provides a unique opportunity to correct the project’s ecological imbalance.

Beth El has waged a media campaign that promotes the institution’s religious status to gain exemption from serious scrutiny. This deflects attention from the project’s true problems. Proponents have demonized project critics and attempted to silence dissent within and without the temple community. This is evidenced in Beth El’s newsletter which states: “The groups opposing the project are zealous and well organized” and, “Getting this permit is a relatively modest thing, compared to other battles Jews have fought throughout history with much higher stakes.”

Further, Rabbi Raj has sought to link project criticism to anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. He reminded the ZAB of Kristallnacht, and has said: “This is not the first time some people would blame the Jews for everything—America is different, but anti-Semitism is everywhere.” I, too, lost family in the Holocaust. Linking project criticism to it trivializes the suffering of those who perished and those who survived.

Religious institutions are supposed to engage in charitable activities. In Judaism, Mitzvot (good deeds) are done for their own sake. Any expectation of reward, present or future, compromises the integrity of the act. Society recognizes this, among other ways, by the favorable treatment given to such organizations in the tax code. Yet, project supporters repeatedly commodify good deeds and suggest that Beth El has "earned" a use permit, regardless of the consequences to the natural and social environments. Concern for project impacts should inform discussion and decision-making, not the goodness of Beth El or of its works.

In 1992 the ZAB protected Codornices Creek. It limited The Chinese Alliance Community Church’s development of the Landmark Byrne site to the site’s southern portion. ZAB also required 26 on-site parking spaces for a project that was less than one-fourth the size of Beth El. In March 2001, the ZAB reversed itself, violating city ordinances and policies including those for creeks, Live Oaks, and parking. Why did Beth El rate such unusual treatment? Did its deeds count more than those of the East Bay Chinese Alliance Community Church?

Organizations and governments make mistakes. Credibility is lost when these are defended instead of corrected. The review of this project has already harmed the city as a whole. Another decision rooted in the expression of raw political power will only make this worse. The council needs to support a process of consensus problem solving and redesign that addresses the genuine dilemmas created by this project.

Daniel Caraco

Berkeley

Save trees and reuse buildings

Editor:

After reading the description of the huge documents called the “ugly things” prepared for the Beth El project, I started to wonder how many trees have been cut down to print them all. It is quite ironic that large amounts of natural resources are being used in the name of protecting the environment.

The other question is why does Beth El insist on building where there exists so much communityopposition? This is supposed to be a community center, but the community opposition is strong, so I suggest Beth El look for someplace less controversial. Has Beth El looked into buying an existing building? There are many churches in Berkeley that appear to be under-used.

The Berkeley school board approved the hire of three new principals Wednesday and expects to announce the appointment of two more early next week.

The three appointments announced Wednesday were for Thousand Oaks, Rosa Parks and Jefferson primary schools.

Jesse Ramos, currently vice principal at Shore Acres Elementary School in the Mount Diablo Unified School District, will take over for Kevin Wooldridge as principal at Thousand Oaks School.

Ramos has taught English as a second language in San Francisco for the last six years. In 1997, he was voted Humanitarian of the Year by Contra Costa and Alameda County teachers unions for his work in helping to bridge cultural differences in local schools.

Betty Delaney, who has served in Daly City’s Jefferson Elementary School District since 1992, has been appointed principal of Berkeley’s Jefferson School starting next year. She served as the first principal of the district’s new Susan B. Anthony school since 1998, helping to create policies for academics, discipline, safety and budgeting.

At Rosa Parks, Alison Kelly, who came to the school six years ago to lead the school’s Dual Language Immersion program – today one of the most popular programs in the district – will replace Andrea Colfack. Kelly has been a key member of the school’s leadership for years, helping to implement the school’s early literacy program, its Federal Science Magnet grant and its innovative Family Resource Center.

At a time when there is a national shortage of principals, the Berkeley District lured 22 candidates to apply for the five positions – a respectable number, said Associate Superintendent for Administrative Services David Gomez.

The search began with committees of teachers and parents at each of the five schools working to determine what characteristics each school community would like to see in its next leader. Finalists were interviewed the week of May 28.

Gomez and other district administrators visited the schools of each finalist to interview parents, students and others in an effort to make sure the individuals would be a good match with schools in Berkeley.

School board director John Selawsky said the appointments have the added benefit of making the district’s administrative leadership more representative of Berkeley’s ethnic diversity. Both Ramos and Kelly are bilingual (Spanish and English). Delaney is African American.

Child Nutrition Services Program under fire

Also at the Wednesday meeting, the board’s last regular session of the school year, a citizens’ advisory committee delivered a sweeping criticism of the district’s Child Nutrition Services Department.

In a report, the committee said a lack of coordination and leadership in the department has severely hampered the implementation of the district’s 1999 Food Policy, widely hailed as a model in the state for its ambitious goal of “(improving) the health of the entire community by teaching students and families ways to establish and maintain life long healthy eating habits.”

The advisory committee report says the district’s breakfast program is not working as intended because buses deliver students to school just as their first class begins, allowing little or no time for students to eat the “healthy” food provided for them.

The district’s lunch periods are so short that “large amounts of food is thrown away and wasted” because students simply don’t have time to eat it, the report said. The fact that students often have to wait in long lines for food compounds the problem, the report claimed, particularly at the high school.

“There is no point pretending that lunch is offered to everyone if there is not enough time for everyone to eat or even purchase food,” the report concluded.

On the positive side, the report noted that the passage of two new bond measures last year will provided funds to renovate the district’s kitchens, many of which are in terrible condition today. Furthermore it noted that a new grant from the California Endowment is financing the preparation of a business plan to determine how the district can do a better job providing food services for its students.

BSEP says budget information unclear

In a separate report Wednesday, another district oversight committee complained that the district’s failure to provide clear explanations for expenditures in next year’s budget has made it difficult for the committee to provide meaningful oversight.

“We can’t play an oversight role if we’re not given the information,” said Carol Wilkins, a member of the Berkeley Public Schools Educational Excellence Project (BSEP) Oversight Committee, which reviews expenditures of parcel-tax funds.

At issue is the question of whether the district is spending money specifically earmarked for class size reduction for that purpose. Wilkins said the committee would also like to see a clearer justification for the district’s decision to cut teaching staff at the high school next year, a move that Wilkins and others fear would lead to larger class size at the school.

The BSEP committee report asked the school board to meet as soon as possible after the state passes its final budget this month, and after the BUSD business office has time to come up with more accurate budget information, to reevaluate the question of whether the high school’s teaching staff truly needs to be cut.

Many board members have indicated a their eagerness to comply with this recommendation.

“I think they’re asking questions that are serious, legitimate and very sophisticated,” said School Board Vice President Shirley Issel. “We have to be in a position to give them some answers, and currently we’re not.”

While the growth of Berkeley’s Latino population may not be dramatic – the 2000 Census says there’s approximately 2,000 more Latinos (about 10,000 total) in the city today than 10 years before – a new faith-based movement of Hispanic families promises to make a profound impression on the local political scene.

“Members of St. Joseph the Worker Church in Berkeley are uniting to demand that their Latino students, the majority of whom don’t graduate, will be made a top priority by the Berkeley School Board and high school principal,” according to a letter inviting the community to a meeting with two school board members at the church Monday.

The new group organizing the meeting, Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action, is made up of 12 local religious congregations and is part of the Pacific Institute for Community Organization, a nationwide network of faith-based community organizations.

Board of Education President Terry Doran and school director Joaquin Rivera promised to be at the meeting.

Among the concerns parents have is that their children are placed automatically in remedial English classes at Berkeley High, where they miss studying other subjects.

“Many children in the (English Language Learner) program have been speaking English since birth,” said Liz Fuentes, a parent of a graduating Berkeley High senior and teacher at Thousand Oaks School. “They have no business being in ELL.”

How do they end up in these classes?

Once parents write down on a school form that they speak Spanish at home, the child is shunted into the ELL program, Fuentes said. “It’s racism.”

Judy Bodenhausen, who heads the ELL program, tells a different story. She says all students whose native language is not English are tested and placed in the program if their English skills are limited and if parents want their children in the program. “It’s up to the parents,” she said. Children whose English is strong enough can take classes outside the program, she said. Those whose skills are very limited might take classes such as typing, physical education or art classes outside ELL.

When advised that some parents feel their children are wrongly placed in the program and that the program limits their children’s intellectual growth, Bodenhausen told a reporter: “I’m not talking to you about that.” The teacher then also declined to confirm the correct spelling of her name.

Board President Doran, who said he has worked with Latinos Unidos, another group supporting Latino families in the schools., said he plans to attend the Monday meeting to hear the community’s concerns. He said he’s aware that people in the Latino community have doubts about the ELL program and that there is a need for more Latino and bilingual teachers.

Fuentes said, in their organizing efforts, the Latino parents took as an example, the Parents of Children of African Descent, who put together the Rebound program for failing ninth graders.

OAKLAND – Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi presented a $1.8 billion proposed budget to the Board of Supervisors Thursday. While bigger than last year’s, the budget reflects a lower growth rate because of the slowing down of the economy.

The proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes an increase of $240.5 million, 15.2 percent over the budget for 2000–2001.

The total projected expenditures include $557 million in public assistance, $445 million in public protection and $414 million in health care services, which account for 31 percent, 24 percent and 23 percent of the budget, respectively.

The goals and objectives for the upcoming fiscal year include the completion of the construction of a critical care and clinic facility and the seismic retrofit of Highland Hospital; completion of the design and beginning of construction of the new Juvenile Hall facility in Dublin; and the construction of a parking garage at the Dublin BART station.

Other budget priorities outlined by the administrator include the opening of a mental health unit in the Juvenile Hal, and a psychiatric emergency unit at Oakland Children’s Hospital; furthering the conversion of equipment into electronic, touch–screen voting; and the opening of the first of three emergency receiving centers for children who are removed from their homes.

The difference between revenue and expenditures – $6.7 million – is larger than last year’s $5.8 million gap, which was the lowest in a decade.

Muranishi proposed balancing the budget without cutting jobs by using $5.9 million from the Fiscal Management Reward Program, which is a one–time use of the last year’s unused funds.

The use of departmental revenues is proposed to take care of the remaining $800,000 needed to close the funding gap.

Muranishi suggested that the council continue to support legislation that provides for the return of property tax money to secure a stable discretionary revenue source for programs.

The state took $187 million from the county this year for the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund, or

ERAF, which brings to more than $1.2 billion what the state has taken since the fund’s implementation in 1991–1992.

The first public hearing on the budget will be Monday, June 18. Copies of the document can be obtained at libraries in the county.

Rep. Barbara Lee was recognized on Wednesday for her efforts to fight AIDS and HIV around the world.

Lee, D-Oakland, was awarded the Congressional Service Award, which is given out by InterAction, a coalition of more than 165 U.S.-based relief, development and environmental agencies, which work throughout the world.

Lee has worked to pass legislation to create multilateral international efforts to fight the spread of the disease. She was also co-author of HR 3519, the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act of 2000, which was signed into law by Bill Clinton and would go on to give $1 billion to the combat AIDS worldwide.

Lee has also introduced legislation that would increase the affordability of AIDS drugs and links debt relief to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.

Commenting on the award, Lee said, “I am honored to receive this award, but the real recognition should go to the many organizations and people who are dedicated to international humanitarian, development and relief efforts.''

“The support we receive from organizations, like those that are members of InterAction, is invaluable in our work to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic,'' she said.

Low-income ratepayers of California’s public utilities will save 5 percent more on their electric bills, state power regulators ordered Thursday.

The Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously to expand the low-income discount from 15 percent to 20 percent. Commissioner Carl Wood said the savings would help ease the financial worries of the state’s poorest ratepayers.

“It is critical that we act to provide relief to these most vulnerable customers,” Wood said. The extra discount will cover customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Diego Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison Co. and Southern California Gas.

The PUC delayed action on a proposal to order the state’s two largest utilities to pay 15 percent of the more than $1 billion they owe small power plants throughout the state for past electricity deliveries.

Money previously allocated by the Legislature to help low-income users would cover the cost of expanding the discount through the year, said Paul Clanon, executive director of the PUC’s energy division.

To get the discount, low-income ratepayers usually have to apply by mail to the California Alternate Rates on Energy program. Many of those eligible haven’t signed up, and Wood and PUC President Loretta Lynch are looking at creating an automatic enrollment system.

The PUC also approved a request from San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and San Diego County to have SDG&E pay businesses to lower the state’s electricity demand by using diesel generators during power emergencies.

The PUC lowered the payment from a proposed 35 cents per kilowatt hour saved to 20 cents per kilowatt hour. Those customers already avoid paying for electricity by running generators during those times, the PUC said.

San Diego County representatives countered that it costs thousands to rent, buy and fuel generators, and say they are being good citizens by finding alternative solutions.

The money to fund the program will come out of SDG&E rates, said Paul Clanon, director of the PUC’s energy division.

Utilities also use money raised from rates to fund similar programs which “interrupt” businesses with blackouts in exchange for cheaper electricity or a promise to knock out power only for certain lengths of time.

But financially troubled PG&E and Edison warn they’ll be overwhelmed by the cost of new interruptible programs recently approved the PUC. Clanon said both utilities filed last month for emergency surcharges to power bills, saying regular rates were not enough to cover all their costs.

The PUC chose not to act on a proposal from Lynch that would have paid small power plants 15 percent of overdue bills owed to them by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. These plants produce up to a third of the state’s electricity supply.

After the meeting, Lynch said she delayed action on the plan because of ongoing discussions between Edison and its power plants, as well as Friday’s decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali to order PG&E to free their plants from contracts or start paying off the millions it owes them for past power deliveries.

SACRAMENTO — The state school board, wary of possible legal challenges, Thursday set lower passing grades for the new state high school graduation test than those recommended by an advisory group.

At the level of 60 percent for English and 55 percent for math, nearly a third of students who are just finishing ninth grade have already passed the tough exam.

Gov. Gray Davis has made the exit exam a key part of his effort to improve public schools, and California is one of 22 requiring students to pass a test to graduate.

The state Board of Education decided to lower the 70 percent scores recommended by an advisory group of educators because of the dismal results for minority and poor ninth-graders who took the test for the first time this spring.

The Democratic governor and other state education officials also pledged resources for those students who need help to graduate.

Kerry Mazzoni, Davis’ education secretary, said the administration wants to “close that gap” and help children in the lowest-performing schools.

Davis’ proposed 2001-2002 budget includes $220 million for the state’s lowest-performing schools, which are also a focus of several bills being proposed by lawmakers.

However, lower revenues caused by a slowing economy may jeopardize any extra money.

While it approved lower scores this year, the board said it will increase the grades needed to pass as high school improve and students get used to the test, which state officials call the nation’s hardest.

“We have a world-class high school exit exam here,” state board President Reed Hastings said.

State Superintendent of Public Education Delaine Eastin’s department put test questions on its Internet site Thursday to show parents, teachers and students what the exam is like.

Scores for schools and districts will be posted on the site in

mid-September.

The class of 2004, the students who are completing ninth grade, will be the first required to pass the test to graduate.

About 378,000 of those 480,000 ninth-graders voluntarily took the test for the first time in March and May.

At the passing scores approved Thursday, about 40 percent of students taking the test – about 32 percent of all ninth-graders – passed both math and English, Hastings said.

Sixty-five percent passed English, and 45 percent passed math.

Those who didn’t pass one or both parts have eight more chances before their scheduled 2004 graduation date and only have to take the part they didn’t pass.

In the state’s lowest-performing high schools, however, only 32 percent passed English and 8 percent math.

Only 23 percent of blacks and 25 percent of Hispanics passed math, compared to 71 percent of Asians and 64 percent of whites.

If the passing levels had been set at 70 percent, only 1 percent of students in the lowest-performing schools would have passed math.

Eastin recommended the lower passing grades and said flunking 99 percent of those students would have left the state open to lawsuits by parents who would say their children lacked a fair chance to learn.

Courts in other states have ruled that students cannot be penalized on such high-stakes tests if they were never taught the subjects covered.

California’s high school test includes algebra, which not all districts have previously required for graduation.

A new state law, effective with the class of 2004, requires algebra.

The test has already drawn one suit.

A disability rights group last month sued the state in federal court, saying it failed to provide an alternate test or accommodate three dyslexic teens.

State lawmakers have also been concerned about whether the class of 2004 is sufficiently prepared, since its students have not benefited fully from reforms of the past few years.

The Senate last winter passed a bill, later withdrawn, that would have postponed the test for a year.

A new bill moving through the Legislature and backed by Davis calls for the state board to decide by August 2003, after seeing results of an independent study, whether to postpone the test.

Here are preliminary results from the state’s high school test, as given in March to about 378,000 ninth-graders:

English Passing Score

of 60 percent

All students passing:

65 percent

Blacks: 49 percent

Asians: 77 percent

Hispanics: 48 percent

Whites: 82 percent

English learners: 30 percent

Special education: 22 percent

Lowest-performing schools:

32 percent

Poor: 46 percent

Math Passing Score

of 55 percent

All students passing:

45 percent

Blacks: 23 percent

Asians: 71 percent

Hispanics: 25 percent

Whites: 64 percent

English learners: 17 percent

Special education: 12 percent

Lowest-performing schools:

8 percent

Poor: 26 percent

English Passing Score of 70 percent

All students passing:

47 percent

Blacks: 29 percent

Asians: 61 percent

Hispanics: 27 percent

Whites: 66 percent

English learners: 11 percent

Special education: 11 percent

Lowest-performing schools:

15 percent

Poor: 25 percent

Math Passing Score of

70 percent

All students passing:

25 percent

Blacks: 9 percent

Asians: 52 percent

Hispanics: 9 percent

Whites: 37 percent

English learners: 6 percent

Special education: 5 percent

Lowest-performing schools:

1 percent

Poor: 11 percent

On the Net:

Read about the high school test and see sample test items at http://www.cde.ca.gov/statetests/hsee/hsee.html

LOS ANGELES — Obese adults have more chronic health problems than smokers, heavy drinkers or the poor, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report by the RAND institute in Santa Monica found that obese people have on average nearly twice the chronic health troubles of people of normal weight.

“We didn’t expect this big difference,” said Roland Sturm, a RAND economist and lead author of the survey, which was published in the latest edition of the British journal Public Health.

The study also found that smoking harms the health of women more than men, with female smokers having about 40 percent more chronic health problems than nonsmokers. The figure was 30 percent for men.

Sturm said the survey, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, demonstrates that public health officials should intensify their fight against obesity to levels that at least match the public health campaign against smoking.

The study found that more people are overweight or obese than are those collectively who smoke, drink heavily and live below the federal poverty line.

The telephone survey, which was conducted in 1998, asked 9,585 adults about their weight, height, smoking and drinking habits, income and quality of life. They also were asked if they had any of 17 chronic health problems, including asthma, cancer, diabetes and heart problems.

Obesity was determined by finding a respondent’s body mass index, a figure derived by multiplying a person’s weight in pounds by 703 and dividing that result by height in inches squared.

People of normal weight have a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9; those considered overweight score between 25 and 29.9; obese people are between 30 and 34.9 and very obese people are over 35.

The survey found that 59 percent of Americans are at least overweight — a figure that is in line with other recent studies.

The study found that people of normal weight had an average of 1.1 chronic conditions. Overweight people had an average of an additional 0.2 chronic conditions, obese people had an additional 0.6 chronic conditions and the very obese had 0.9 more conditions.

The study showed the obese tend to have slightly more health problems than people living in poverty and far more than daily smokers or heavy drinkers.

The contractor who Phil Smith hired for his addition last year is one of the best in Columbia, Mo. But every night after the contractor and his crew went home, Smith took out a flashlight, tape measure and the architect’s plans to inspect the work. Smith presented any questions at a twice-weekly meeting. When something looked really wrong, he called his contractor from work. And when Smith’s concerns resulted in a change from the original plans, a change order was written. The result? A job that went smoothly for homeowner and contractor.

Questioning your contractor, as Smith did, makes a lot of folks uncomfortable. After all, the contractor is the expert. But your nonexpert status can give you the objectivity needed to catch such errors as missing switches, misplaced windows or delivery of the wrong model of an appliance. And because many projects involve several subcontractors, the framer might not have the latest window placements and the electrician might not know about the extra needed for your computer.

That makes having an extra pair of eyes and ears not only welcome but essential for catching small problems before they get big and expensive. Although no two remodels are exactly alike, there are some specifics to consider for your next project.

Carry a tape measure, flashlight (make sure the batteries are good) and notebook for any inspection. If you’re checking back against an architect’s plans, remember that there’s a separate plan for each of the following: foundation, framing, door and window schedule and finish schedule. You’ll often need to cross-reference the various plans to get a full picture of all the work being done.

What to Look For

• Foundation. Measure the distances between outside walls to be sure they conform to the foundation plan. You’ll find distances clearly marked on the plan, along with wall heights, wall thickness and slab thickness. It’s acceptable if lengths and widths vary by less than an inch. But because both walls and slabs are load-bearing, thickness for these components must be to spec.

• Framing. Check ceiling heights carefully to be sure they’re as specified. For example, the framing crew might not have picked up that the ceiling height in the dining room is 9 feet, 6 inches instead of 8 feet. Also check the length and width of rooms. And if you’re building to accommodate a couch, bar unit or pool table, for instance, now is the time to be sure the item will fit.

• Doors and windows. Center lines of doors and windows are also marked on the plans. Check the placement of each by measuring in from a nearby foundation corner to confirm its location. As the floor plan takes shape, note the direction of door swings – and make any changes before doors and jambs are installed. Also check that windows and doors align as planned to establish sight lines or to allow light and air to flow through the house. Doors or windows that are out of line are easy to fix at the framing stage.

When windows arrive, check the model and type against what you specified. Manufacturers commonly ship windows with the wrong pane divisions, or light cuts. You might have ordered six-over-sixes and gotten four-over-fours. Also check doors for style and damage. If they aren’t what you expected or are dinged up, the contractor is responsible for replacing them.

• Structural sheathing. Don’t panic if rough window openings are sheathed over; the plywood is cut away later to ensure a snug fit. But if you see drywall covering the rough opening, it’s probably a mistake.

• Heating and plumbing. As the HVAC and plumbing contractors start work, check their plans against yours. Then ask some basic questions. For instance, in a bedroom, will a bed or bureau block heating and cooling vents? Re-position ducts if need be. And be sure water and drainpipes are roughed in at the right locations by checking against the plans.

• Wiring. An easy way to check the electrical plan is to enter a room as if it were finished. Reach for light switches. Try to plug in a lamp. Are outlets and switches conveniently placed? Also determine whether you need three-way switches in rooms with multiple entrances and extra outlets in the kitchen, where several appliances will go.

Then take note as workers install low-voltage wiring for cable or satellite TV, the alarm system, sound equipment and phones. Do you like the placement? Though replacing cables now isn’t expensive, rerouting them later is. Also ask workers to run extra cables you can activate later.

• Hardwood floors. When installing this type of flooring, be sure the lumber spends at least two days out of its packaging in the house to prevent shrinkage gaps later. Also check that the planks are perpendicular to the floor joists and the installed flooring is covered with plywood or paper to protect it as other work continues.

• Insulation. This important material is placed in the walls just before drywalling. Make sure it’s the R-value you asked for by carefully reading the insulation label and checking it against your specifications. For exterior walls, check that the insulation paper or foil is facing toward the room. Be sure spaces between studs and joists are entirely insulated, especially where joists end at exterior walls. Pay particular attention to the spaces around windows and doors; leaving even a small section uninsulated can cause drafts and heat loss.

Some plans call for soundproofing interior rooms with insulation. If yours do, make sure the insulation goes in before drywall is installed.

• Drywalling and paint. Be especially vigilant in these areas. Use a bright light held at an angle to pick up imperfections in the wall. If the drywall isn’t smooth enough, for example, point it out and have it redone. While painting and tiling are under way, make sure you’re available to approve colors for walls or floors. The same goes for grout. Then double-check grout after it has dried because the color tends to lighten.

• Fixtures and fittings. If your addition includes a kitchen or bath, walk through the room and pay close attention to fixtures and faucets. Are they the right color? Do fixture finishes match? Also be sure metal finishes haven’t been scratched by plumbing tools and that everything works without leaking.

Finally, be especially careful that custom-tile patterns match the approved layout plan, and that there are no gaps in any trim or molding joints.

As the project moves into its final stages, don’t let your guard down. The finishing touches demand the most attention, so dig deep and muster up the last of your energy to see the job through to the very end. This due diligence will pay off.

Hot pink is an eye-catching color. That’s why seeds are dyed that bright hue to show they’ve been coated with a poisonous pesticide.

Caution is needed when handling pesticide-coated seeds. Never let small children handle them and don’t touch your eyes, mouth, or food until you’ve finished planting and thoroughly washed your hands.

Seed treatment goes back to the Middle Ages, when wheat was shoveled back and forth over the heat of a fire to rid it of smut, a disease that affects the mature plant. In the early 19th century, it was found that seed soaked in water in a copper bucket picked up enough copper to protect against smut.

The pink seeds you see when you peel open a packet of peas, beans, or corn are treated to protect them from rotting in the soil rather than to protect the growing plants. Rot is a threat to any seed that does not sprout quickly enough once planted. Pesticide on treated seed kills micro-organisms nearby, increasing the chances of germination. Treating seeds to prevent them from rotting is a practice that dates back only a hundred years or so.

Despite the benefits of treated seed, there are compelling reasons to choose untreated ones when they are available. Some of the fun in gardening is drained when you can’t just reach over to grab a bite of lettuce while planting corn, or if you have to refuse the help of your young child in the garden. Some seed companies only sell untreated seed, while other companies give you the option of purchasing either treated or untreated seeds.

Some precautions are necessary when planting untreated seeds. Use fresh seed and plant in well-drained soil. If drainage is poor, enrich your soil with organic materials such as compost, leaves or peat moss. You might also want to plant in raised beds. Do not overwater your plants.

In the beginning of the season, don’t plant until the soil has warmed adequately for the seed you’re planting. If you want to try to get a jump on the season, plant more seeds than necessary, in shallow soil. If needed, remove excess seedlings later on.

Most precautions for handling untreated seeds are part of good gardening, anyway.

If you or a member of your family should become physically disabled, how “user-friendly” would your home be? How accessible is your home? When making home improvements, are you thinking ahead to your “twilight years”? Accessible design and construction is becoming increasingly important to American homeowners, as longevity increases.

While accessible design and construction is growing in popularity, consideration for the physically disabled isn’t new. In 1990, the U.S. Congress established “a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability.” Among other things, this legislation, known as the “Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),” mandates that the design and construction in public buildings include elements that make the space accessible for people with physical disabilities.

The ADA also provides non-mandatory design criteria that can be employed in private residences to make the space safer and more accessible for people with physical disabilities. While these design elements are many, a few examples include ramps, wider door openings, and kitchens and bathrooms that are accessible.

Our first experience with such accessibility goes back nearly 40 years when our folks had a ramp built at our back porch for use by our grandmother who was a wheelchair user. While the ramp made Nana’s life easier, if we knew then what we know now, we are confident that her life could have been made more comfortable yet.

Although a ramp is one of the more obvious, there are other elements that can improve the comfort and safety of people with physical disabilities:

• Door openings that are wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through can make all of the space in a home accessible. The ADA suggests a clearance of at least 32 inches when a door is open at a 90-degree angle.

• Install grab bars at toilets, tubs and showers. The ADA provides specific criteria for the size and placement of grab bars.

• Grab bars and waterproof seats are other popular safety and comfort enhancements that can be made to a tub or shower stall. For people who have difficulty stepping over and into a tub, a traditional tub or shower can be replaced with a molded prefabricated shower stall that is wheelchair accessible. These units come complete with grab bars and a fold-down seat. Some remodeling (wall relocation) might be required in order for your bathroom to accommodate such a unit. Several manufacturers produce prefabricated shower stalls (floor and walls) that do not have a “curb” at the front. That makes them more wheelchair accessible.

• Install sinks no more than 34 inches above the finished floor with at least 27 inches of knee clearance below. Also, wrap all exposed plumbing pipes with a foam material to prevent leg injury.

• The lowest edge of a mirror above a sink should be no more than 36 inches above the floor.

• Provide a 60-inch wheelchair turnaround in a bathroom.

• Install a toilet that is 17 inches to 19 inches above the floor (to the top of the toilet seat).

• In the kitchen, counters should measure no more than 34 inches above the finished floor and should project out no more than 21 inches. Moreover, there should be at least 27 inches of under-counter clearance for wheelchair access.

• Shelving height and closet rods should be no more than 48 inches above the floor.

More information on accessible design can be obtained at the ADA website at www.uskoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm and at www.access-board.gov.

In addition, an excellent book on the subject is “Building for a Lifetime: The Design and Construction of Fully Accessible Homes” by Margaret Wylde with Sam Clark and Adrian Baron-Robins; Taunton Press, December, 1993.

To save cost, people are incorporating disabled-accessible features into their remodeling projects. What’s more, home buyers – especially empty nesters looking to downsize – have started asking builders to incorporate many of these features into their new homes.

Judah L. Magnes Museum “Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” through May 2002. An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. 2911 Russell St. 549-6950

The Asian Galleries “Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery.” A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection. “Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. “Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. “Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. $6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 642-0808

UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology “Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended. This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history. “Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. This exhibit documents the culture of the Yahi Indians of California as described and demonstrated from 1911 to 1916 by Ishi, the last surviving member of the tribe. $2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Ave. 643-7648

Holt Planetarium Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. “Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18; $3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Centennial Drive, UC Berkeley 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu

“Big Love” by Charles L. Mee Through June 10 Directed by Les Waters and loosely based on the Greek Drama, “The Suppliant Woman,” by Aeschylus. Fifty brides who are being forced to marry fifty brothers flee to a peaceful villa on the Italian coast in search of sanctuary. $15.99 - $51 Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2025 Addison St. 647-2949

“The Laramie Project” Through July 8, Wed. 7 p.m., Tues. and Thur. -Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Written by Moises Kaufmen and members of Tectonic Theater Project, directed by Moises Kaufman. Moises Kaufman and Tectonic members traveled to Laramie, Wyo., after the murder of openly gay student Matthew Shepherd. The play is about the community and the impact Shaper’s death had on its members. $10 - $50. The Roda Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre 2015 Addison St. 647-2949 www.berkeleyrep.org

“A Life In the Theatre” Previews June 8, 9, 10, 13. Opens June 14, runs through July 15. Wed. - Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. David Mamet play about the lives of two actors, considered a metaphor for life itself. Directed by Nancy Carlin. $30-$35. $26 preview nights. Berkeley City Club 2315 Durant 843-4822

Films

Pacific Film Archive June 8, 7:30: Aerograd; June 8, 9:15: The Letter That Was Never Sent; June 9, 7:30: Comic and Avant-Garde Shorts; June 10, 5:30: Pitfall, 7:25: Woman In the Dunes. Pacific Film Archive Theater 2575 Bancroft Way (at Bowditch) 642-1412

Bernard Maisner: Illuminated Manuscripts and Paintings. Through Aug. 8 Maisner works in miniature as well as in large scales, combining his mastery of medieval illumination, gold leafing, and modern painting techniques. Flora Lamson Hewlett Library 2400 Ridge Rd. 849-2541

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tours All tours begin at 10 a.m. and are restricted to 30 people per tour $5 - $10 per tour. June 23: Sue Fernstrom will lead a tour of Strawberry Creek and West of the UC Berkeley campus 848-0181

SAN FRANCISCO — As the peak summer driving season shifts into high gear, several major oil companies are warning that California could face gasoline shortages and higher prices unless their refineries are shielded from the blackouts facing the electricity-starved state in the weeks ahead.

Four oil refiners – Valero Energy, Tosco, Exxon Mobil and Equilon Enterprises – are petitioning the California Public Utilities Commission for blackout exemptions at facilities that produce about one-fourth of the state’s refining capacity of 2.3 million barrels per day.

Meanwhile, California’s biggest refiner, Chevron Corp., has taken its exemption case directly to Gov. Gray Davis. The San Francisco-based company, which controls about 18 percent of the state’s refining capacity, told Davis the company will curtail production unless regulators or state lawmakers protect its two California refineries from blackouts.

The industry’s arguments for a blackout exemption revolve around the elaborate — and dangerous – manufacturing process used to turn crude oil into fuel.

If a refinery suffers a blackout, it would take at least two days to restore full production, according to industry officials. If equipment is damaged in an abrupt shutdown, it could diminish refining capacity for weeks – a loss that could lead to shortages in gasoline-guzzling California and increase prices.

The California refiners had been excluded from the blackouts until early April, when the PUC narrowed its blackout exemptions to utility customers that would pose “imminent danger to public health and safety” if they lost power.

Despite the change, none of the refineries lost power in early May – the last time that California’s electricity grid managers ordered rolling blackouts.

Nevertheless, the PUC’s decision “threatens to expand our energy problems from the current electricity supply problem to problems with shortages of critical fuels – gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel,” Chevron CEO David O’Reilly advised Davis in a June 1 letter.

Even a temporary shortage could increase California’s gasoline prices by as much as 25 percent, according to estimates made by the California Energy Commission. Millions of California households and businesses already face electricity rate increases on their summer utility bills.

The oil refiners join a long line of businesses lobbying for blackout exemptions, with the PUC receiving more than 10,000 such applications. The PUC expects to make a preliminary decision on the exemption applications July 10, with a final decision scheduled for Aug. 2.

Fearing grid managers might pull the plug before the PUC acts, the refineries also are lobbying state lawmakers to pass a bill that would provide blackout exemptions for businesses “engaged in the manufacturing and/or transportation of critical fuels.”

The bill cleared the state Assembly by a unanimous vote, but is now stuck in a Senate committee.

“We’re paralyzed right now,” said Scott Folwarkow, Valero’s environmental and regulatory manager at its Benicia refinery. “This isn’t just about us or a few other refineries. There would be huge ripple effects through the economy because so many things, including police and ambulances, depend on gasoline.”

While the refineries have a compelling case for blackout exemptions, they also should be required to pay more for electricity when other customers are enduring power outages, said Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California’s energy institute.

“If the power is that valuable to them, then the state should probably say, ’OK, you won’t have to suffer blackouts, but you will have to pay extra for the electricity during shortages,”’ Borenstein said.

Paying a little more for power wouldn’t represent a huge blow for oil companies because the industry’s profits have soared along with gasoline and natural gas prices. Chevron, for instance, earned $1.6 billion during the first three months of this year, 53 percent more than last year — when its profits set a company record.

The state, in contrast, can’t afford to lose refining capacity for an extended period.

Even when all the state’s refineries are operating at full capacity, the state traditionally needs to import about 10 percent of its summer gasoline supply, according to the California Energy Commission, which supports the refineries’ effort to obtain blackout exemptions.

Based on recent accidents that forced California refineries to shut down in 1996 and 1999, gasoline prices would rise by as much as 50 cents per gallon if just one plant lost capacity for a few days, said Gordon Schremp, senior fuel specialist for the California Energy Commission.

As it is, California motorists already pay some of the highest gasoline prices in the country. In May, California’s average gasoline price stood at $2 per gallon compared to the national average of $1.72 per gallon, according to surveys by the American Automobile Association.

Providing the refineries with adequate electricity to supplement their internal power generation would reduce California’s electricity supply by 200 to 250 megawatts, Schremp estimated. That’s enough power for 150,000 to 187,500 homes.

LOS ANGELES — Former bitter rivals NetZero and Juno Online Services, the two biggest providers of free Internet access, said Thursday they will merge in a deal that is expected to create the nation’s second-largest Internet connection company.

NetZero of Westlake Village, Calif., and Juno Online Services of New York announced the deal after close of market.

The two would share 7 million subscribers and would be larger than the online access arms of Microsoft, Earthlink and AT&T, company executives said in a statement. Only AOL would be bigger.

Under the terms of the all-stock transaction, NetZero and Juno will become wholly owned subsidiaries of a newly formed company called United Online Inc.

NetZero stockholders will own about 61.5 percent of the outstanding shares in United Online. Juno stockholders will own the rest, once the deal closes sometime before the end of the year.

The new company is expected to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol UNTD.

The deal comes as free Net providers are striving to find new ways to make money and are increasingly dabbling in paid online access services. Traditionally, free providers have made their money through advertising.

Such an experiment has not saved NetZero from widening quarterly losses.

The company’s third-quarter net loss, announced in May, grew more than $66 million to $91.3 million, compared with the same period last year. That’s despite a new $9.95-a-month paid service that drew 116,000 customers during that same period.

Juno, meanwhile, has been offering some paid services for three years.

The two had clashed in court since late last year, when NetZero sued Juno on accusations of patent infringement.

The California company alleged that Juno was using unique technology that combines pop-up ad banners and a navigational tool.

A federal judge lifted a temporary restraining order against Juno in April, though a trial was expected later this year.

Juno has also taken court action against NetZero.

In a separate case, Juno filed a patent infringement case against NetZero and Qualcomm Inc. last summer over Eudora e-mail software.

In that suit, which was also last reported as pending, Juno alleged the Qualcomm-developed program infringes on a patent it holds for software that allows it to continue to display advertisements connected to e-mail messages even when a user’s computer is not connected to the Internet.

WASHINGTON — In a White House victory celebration, President Bush put his signature to the nation’s first across-the-board tax cut in a generation on Thursday and promised American families rebate checks in time to help with September school bills.

He proclaimed the $1.35 trillion tax cut, most of which takes effect slowly over the next decade, the first achievement for a “new tone in Washington.”

Such broad tax relief has happened just twice since World War II — President Kennedy’s tax cuts in the 1960s and President Reagan’s in the 1980s — Bush told a packed White House audience of near-giddy Republicans and some Democrats.

“And now it’s happening for the third time,” Bush said. “And it’s about time.”

Rebate checks, most between $300 and $600 will be mailed beginning July 20 to every American who paid taxes this year. Eventually, income tax rates will drop, the child credit will double and the estate tax, which Bush calls “the death tax,” will die.

“Most families can look forward to a $600 tax rebate before they have to pay the September back-to-school bills. And in the years ahead, taxpayers can look forward to steadily declining income tax rates,” Bush said.

Democratic opponents complained that the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers will reap more than one-third of the new law’s benefit. “For tens of millions of Americans, the check is not in the mail,” said Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.

Within an hour of the signing, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., opened up the possibility of rolling back some provisions in order to meet spending needs or accommodate any shortfall in the projected $5.6 trillion budget surplus that Bush is counting on to offset tax cuts.

There were no second thoughts in the East Room. Republican leaders and the handful of Democratic lawmakers who helped push the bill through Congress – including Georgia’s Zell Miller, New Jersey’s Robert Torricelli, Louisiana’s John Breaux, and Montana’s Max Baucus – surrounded the president and grabbed for the 10 souvenir pens he had obligingly used to work through his signature letter by letter.

The package was $250 billion smaller than the version Bush had campaigned for and made a must-pass centerpiece of his first six months in office. Nonetheless, the president claimed vindication over political foes who had said his tax cut proposal was too big.

“Today it becomes reality,” he said.

First lady Laura Bush, who is rarely seen when her husband conducts business, took a front-row seat, just one sign that this was a most special occasion for the young Bush White House. Three charter buses deposited members of Congress at the North Portico. Senior White House political strategist Karl Rove bounced through the East Room slapping backs and shaking hands two at a time. Vice President Dick Cheney, Bush’s chief operative on Capitol Hill, slipped into the ceremony unannounced but for the clapping of the first lawmaker to spot him.

A grander ceremony planned for the South Lawn was chased inside by rain, so the dozens of guests who couldn’t fit in the East Room were seated before TV monitors in the Grand Foyer. A grinning Rick Lazio, who lost last year’s New York Senate race to Hillary Clinton, squeezed into the party that capped years of GOP frustration as former President Clinton blocked or vetoed several previous tax cuts.

Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, the fourth-ranking House Republican, told colleagues in a memo that as the refund checks go out to constituents, Republicans should “take every opportunity to remind them who is working to give them more of their own money back to meet their own priorities, not Washington’s.”

In addition to the refund checks and gradual income tax cuts — which include creation of a new 10 percent bottom rate — the measure eases the marriage penalty paid by millions of two-income couples, gradually doubles the $500 child credit and contains breaks for increased retirement savings and education.

House Republican leaders said they will attempt to pass legislation this year to eliminate the “sunset” expiration date and make the tax cuts permanent. But the Democratic majority in the Senate, installed after Vermont Sen. James Jeffords’ switch from the GOP to independent, could make it difficult for that measure or any other House GOP tax cuts to pass this year.

Bush renewed his efforts Thursday to cultivate good relations with key lawmakers. He had what aides called a cordial meeting in the Oval Office with moderate Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I., and had Daschle to dinner at the White House.

WASHINGTON — Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said Thursday she will hold three hearings on work-related injuries, and the findings will help determine how the Bush administration will pursue a new policy to protect workers.

Democrats criticized the hearings as a delay tactic.

“We don’t need more study. We need action – now,” said Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., chairman of the Employment, Safety and Training Subcommittee now that Democrats have taken control of the Senate.

The hearings on ergonomics-related injuries will be in Washington, D.C., on July 16, Chicago on July 20 and in California on July 24, though the city hasn’t been decided yet.

The goal is to develop a universal definition of injuries caused by repetitive motion and stress. Chao will decide by September if she will pursue another government regulation or a voluntary policy.

“Guiding principles will provide a vital starting point for evaluating the issue and a point from which we can decide a final course of action,” she said in a statement.

An administrative law judge will conduct the hearings, which will allow public participation.

Ergonomics is the science of adapting working conditions to suit individual employees. Critics have complained that there is not enough scientific evidence to justify employer regulations that were issued late in the Clinton administration, but repealed in March by the Republican-controlled Congress. Since then, Chao has been under pressure to say how she will address workplace injuries.

Republicans praised the plan for hearings, saying study is needed about how such injuries occur and what the federal government’s role should be.

Chao “has obviously reviewed some of the voluminous testimony from the last misguided attempt and has struck at the heart of the problem,” said Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., the ranking Republican on the subcommittee, which oversees the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Business groups complained that the scope of the OSHA regulations was too broad and that compliance would be difficult and costly, estimating the price tag at $100 billion. The repealed rules would have required employers to change work stations or jobs for workers complaining of injuries, and pay for medical attention.

OSHA said the rules would have cost businesses about $4.5 billion to comply, but would have meant in $9 billion in savings by reducing injuries.

The rollback was a big blow to organized labor, which had fought for such protections for more than a decade. Labor argued that enough studies and hearings have been conducted to support the need for regulations.

Opinion

Editorials

MARIPOSA — Cary Stayner had planned to kill for months before he acted spontaneously on his fantasy and targeted three Yosemite National Park tourists staying at the motel where he worked.

Stayner blocked his ears with his fists and wept Wednesday as his taped confession was played at his preliminary hearing in Mariposa Superior Court.

After hearing the confession and other testimony over the past three days, Judge Thomas Hastings found there was enough evidence to warrant a trial on murder charges. Stayner will be arraigned July 16, and a trial date will be set.

In his own words, Stayner told how he methodically killed the three, describing how it began Feb. 15, 1999, when he wrapped a rope around Carole Sund’s neck, sat on her back and “just nonchalantly strangled her to death.”

“I had no feeling, like I was performing a task,” he said in the confession. “Her hands turned purple and blue and I kind of realized that was it.”

Stayner said he did the same to Silvina Pelosso, and said he slashed Juli Sund’s throat the next morning after repeatedly sexually assaulting her and telling her he loved her.

The 147-year-old courthouse was silent as the tape of Stayner, in a quiet voice, described the crimes in graphic detail.

At one point in the proceeding, a weeping Jose Pelosso, Silvina’s father, who had flown from Argentina for the hearing, shouted a slur at Stayner and stormed out of the courtroom.

Stayner, 39, already is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty in federal court to murdering Yosemite naturalist Joie Armstrong in July 1999, a crime that led to his arrest in the tourists’ case. That case was held in federal court because she was killed in a national park.

He could face execution if convicted in the tourist case. Prosecutors said they will decide whether to seek the death penalty before the July hearing.

Stayner said he had no intention of killing the three women tourists until he saw them through the window in their room at the rustic motel where he worked outside the park as a maintenance man.

In the previous three months, however, he had begun to contemplate murdering his girlfriend and her two daughters. He described the woman as a “slob” and said he fantasized about sexually assaulting her girls and then burning the house down.

But he said his plans were thwarted because a caretaker lived upstairs from the family and they had been nice to him, making it harder to want to kill them.

The instinct to kill continued to ferment, however, and Stayner said he “researched” guests at the lodge whom he might kill during Valentine’s weekend when the Sunds and Pelosso arrived.

As he walked past room 509 the night of Feb. 15, he saw the girls lying in bed and Carole Sund reading a book. There was no man in the picture, and Stayner believed he had found “easy prey.”

The lodge also wasn’t busy that time of year, and there would be no one in adjacent rooms to hear the tourists if they screamed.

Stayner said he pretended to return a master key to the front office that he had taken to get pool cleaning supplies. Then he went to his room above the lodge office, donned camouflage pants, a black, hooded sweatshirt and grabbed a backpack that contained a gun, a knife, clothesline and black duct tape.

He knocked on the door of room 509 and said he had to check on a leak in the bathroom.

Carole Sund initially refused to let him in the room, but relented when he said he would get the manager.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he pulled a gun. The girls, he said, were unfazed, merely looking up from watching the videotape “Jerry Maguire.”

“The mother’s eyes got real big,” he said.

He made the three lie on the floor, bound their hands behind their back with duct tape, gagged their mouths and then took the girls into the bathroom while he strangled Carole Sund.

He then threw her body over his shoulder and dumped it in the trunk of their rental car.

“It felt like I was in control for the first time in my life,” Stayner said.

Stayner, a hairy, but balding man, said was careful to collect any hairs he left behind, something he learned from a forensic science program on the Discovery Channel.

At times during the interview with FBI interrogator Jeffrey Rinek, Stayner told how he had close brushes with law enforcement officers. He seemed boast as he told agents how he tried to throw them off his trail by wiping off fingerprints and getting a kid to lick an envelope so his DNA wouldn’t be on a letter he sent to the FBI with clues.

Agents encouraged him at times, telling him he was amazing, and they even expressed sympathy.

“Oh my God, you’ve been living with that?” Rinek exclaimed as Stayner began sobbing as he described how he killed Juli.

Stayner, who wrapped a naked Juli in a blanket and put her on the front seat of the car, said he had grown fond of her and didn’t want to kill her. But he didn’t have anywhere he could take her.

Juli asked if he was going to kill her, but Stayner didn’t answer.

As he drove from the Cedar Lodge with Juli in the passenger seat and two bodies in the trunk, Stayner had no idea where he was going.

Eventually he pulled into a parking lot at a scenic overlook at Lake Don Pedro, a reservoir in the Sierra Nevada and carried Juli down to a grassy section on a trail below.

After sexually assaulting her again, Stayner said he turned the girl around so he didn’t have to look at her. He kissed her a few times and told her he wished he could keep her.

Juli made a gesture as if putting a gun to her head, like she wanted to be finished off.

Stayner said he grabbed her hair, pulled her head back and took a couple of swipes with a long, serrated kitchen knife across her throat. He said he stared off in a daze toward the reservoir below as she made a loud, gurgling noise.

“I didn’t want her to suffer like the other two,” he said. “I know she did.”

SACRAMENTO — California environmentalists, critical of newly relaxed air pollution rules for power plants, say air quality and public health are taking a back seat to “keeping the lights on.”

Environmental defenders say a state with the nation’s worst air pollution is taking a big step into reverse.

“It’s just another in a long list of instances where we’re seeing the normal rules and regulations pushed out of the way for the energy crisis,” said Sandy Spelliscy, general counsel of the California Planning and Conservation League.

On Monday, Gov. Gray Davis relaxed California air pollution rules for natural gas-fired power plants. Davis, seeking another tool against rotating summer blackouts, estimates his executive order will generate new power for about 1 million residents.

The governor, backed by the California Air Resources Board, said the only alternative is to run even dirtier diesel-fired generating plants. His order, effective until cooler weather expected by Oct. 31, also establishes new fines paid by gas-fired power generators to local air districts to retire other sources of pollution.

While the Davis administration describes the move as “a net gain for air quality,” environmental advocates call it a “sad outcome” and “genuine tragedy.”

“I suppose we should take some comfort that they’re saving the diesels for last,” said V. John White, lobbyist for the Sierra Club in California. “But it’s a sign that the environment is a casualty in this energy meltdown.”

Ross Mirkarimi, spokesman for the California Green Party, called the rule change another “knee-jerk remedy that does nothing to mitigate what looks like is poised to be a long-term problem.

“Every action the governor takes to abate this energy crisis should be done with sustainable policies in mind,” he said. “And so far to date, Gov. Davis has not reacted to the short-term crisis and planned properly for the long-term future in a common sense, green, consumer-oriented manner.”

Jim Martin, energy analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund, called the governor’s order a mixed blessing.

“The positive aspect is that the order expires in October of this year,” he said. “The other is that they’re going to collect the money and offset with other reductions.”

The Sierra Club’s White said he believes the state will end up paying the fines on behalf of power generators to local air districts.

“We’ve breached another fundamental principle,” White said, “which is that polluters should pay the cost of the pollution themselves. This is a horrible price we’re paying.”

Davis spokesman Roger Salazar said power generators must pay their own fines, estimated at about $37.50 per megawatt, to the air districts.

“The idea that they build it into the price is subject to negotiation,” he said.

Martin called it “a genuine tragedy that we’ve reached this point. The health effects are very large and the potential megawatts are small. Maybe we should turn off a few lights.”

Likewise, the California Public Interest Research Group called for stronger conservation measures, including state-funded rebates for energy-efficient appliances and tax credits for “clean” household power systems.

Spelliscy of the California Planning and Conservation League said many activists are wondering if the state did enough to encourage conservation. Also, a hurry-up plan for plant development could lead to mistakes.

“I think we’re taking a big step backward,” she said.

Salazar said it’s the only way to avoid using the diesel-fired generators that environmentalists claim to fear even more than blackouts.

“If you expand the hours these natural gas plants are operating, you won’t have to use the backup diesel generators, which typically emit 10 times more emissions,” he said. “If you want to avoid blackouts, this is a more preferable way of doing it.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered an expanded inquiry Monday into whether El Paso Corp. drove up the price of natural gas destined for California last year by improperly favoring gas marketing companies it owns in bidding for transportation capacity on one of its pipelines.

The commission reversed its ruling of March 28 in which it said El Paso Corp. did nothing wrong in the way it awarded contracts for capacity, or the right to ship gas on its large pipeline connecting gas fields in the Southwest to California.

El Paso’s control of the pipeline is the subject of hearings now in their fifth week before an administrative law judge at the energy commission.

Acting on an appeal of their decision by California regulators and on a request for guidance from the judge, Curtis L. Wagner Jr., the five commissioners said they now believe the relationship between the El Paso units raises “factual issues that are best resolved in an evidentiary hearing.”

California regulators allege that El Paso used its control of the pipeline to inflate the price of gas by as much as $3.7 billion.

El Paso Corp., based in Houston, has denied that it overcharged customers or manipulated the markets.

It has attributed the high cost of gas to supply and demand and to constraints in California’s distribution system.

“The bottom line is the evidence the FERC looked at when they made their initial decision...is still the same,” said Norma F. Dunn, El Paso’s senior vice president for communications. “We remain very confident.”

In its action Monday, the commission rejected El Paso’s request to dismiss the entire case.

The hearings have gone on longer than expected. Wagner’s initial ruling had been due in late June, then early September.

The commission gave him 10 days to produce a new timetable. The commission will be able to either accept or reject Wagner’s ruling.

Commissioner Pat Wood III, one of President Bush’s two recent appointees to the commission, issued a concurring opinion in which he noted that California regulators originally filed their complaint 14 months ago.

“In the framework of active energy markets, it is critical that the commission act expeditiously on complaints,” he said.

SACRAMENTO – Industrial power users could soon get paid by the state for cutting back on power use when California’s electricity reserves are low.

Gov. Gray Davis signed an executive order Saturday creating a voluntary “interruptible” program that will use up to $100 million in state money to pay businesses for not using electricity.

The money is “going to be spent one way or another,” said S. David Freeman, the governor’s senior energy adviser. “We’ll either be buying power or buying power reduction. It’s a matter of what’s the most economic.”

Davis said that since nearly 70 percent of energy use in California is by commercial users, the program will “help mitigate and even avoid blackouts.”

The Independent System Operator, manager of the state’s power grid, will operate the program, and the state Department of Water Resources will back it financially.

Participants, mostly large commercial users, will submit bids for reducing their power. Grid operators will then compare that price with the going price for power and choose the cheapest option, Freeman said.

“We’d rather pay people in California to cut back than pay out-of-state generators,” he said. Paying people to reduce their power has the added bonus of decreasing the chances of blackouts, he added.

The new program is designed to streamline existing programs operated by the Public Utilities Commission, the Independent System Operator and utilities.

Those programs, which account for about 1,400 megawatts that grid operators can cut if necessary, will probably continue, but participants could eventually be moved into the state-funded program, said Kellan Fluckiger, Davis’ energy adviser.

Fluckiger said the size of the new program would depend on how many participants the ISO can recruit.

The ISO releases information on bids for energy after a period of time, and will probably treat bids for cutting power the same way, he said.

But Bonnie Hughes and her crew over at the Berkeley Arts Festival storefront – the old Lee Frank Jewelry Store at Shattuck Avenue and Allston Way – would dearly love to find a solution for the pigeons, which seem to appear almost magically. Almost daily.

“Poisoning them is out,” Arts Fest Director Hughes said.

Assistant Festival Director Earl Bradbury thinks the birds come into the store through one or more of the nooks and crannies in the ceiling that leads to the space above, which is the Shattuck Hotel.

Actually, the regular ceiling has been removed to permit installation of sprinklers.

(The Arts Festival moves into unused storefronts for a month or so each year.)

Someone from animal control came by with nets, Bradbury said, “but they couldn’t do anything.”

The animal control officer advised that the winged creatures be enticed out of the store with bits of food. That’s good as far as it goes, Bradbury said, but new birds soon appear.

“We spend an inordinate amount of our time cajoling pigeons. It is nerve wracking and frustrating and they are messy,” Hughes said in a note to the Daily Planet, further pointing out that the birds tend to perch directly above valuable paintings and a grand piano.

Hughes is making an appeal to the public: “Despair threatens to darken our Festive Spirit and we need help,” she said.

“If you know how to get rid of pigeons and stop them from sneaking in, please phone, e-mail or drop into our gallery headquarters.”

You can reach Hughes and Bradbury at 486-0411, or by e-mail at fabarts@silcon.com or drop by the store at 2200 Shattuck Ave.

OAKLAND — A rookie cop who blew the whistle on a group of renegade Oakland police officers accused of beating suspects and planting evidence testified Thursday about his two-week indoctrination into “the dark side.”

Keith Batt, who was a rookie officer on the “dogwatch,” or night shift, in Oakland for just nine working days, testified at the preliminary hearing for the officers – which is being held to determine if there is enough evidence for a trial.

Batt said a group of officers who called themselves “The Riders” taught him to falsify police reports, subdue suspects and generally disregard what he had learned in the police academy.

Chuck Mabanag, Jude Siapno and Matthew Hornung now face more than 60 felony and misdemeanor counts ranging from assault and kidnapping to falsifying police reports and overtime slips.

Frank Vazquez, the alleged ringleader of the group, is believed to have fled the country.

Batt, 24, who now works for the Pleasanton Police Department, testified all day Thursday. He wore his blue

officer’s uniform, spoke without hesitation and looked frequently at the

accused officers.

His face became red when he was asked about the alleged beating of Delphine Allen.

Mabanag, who was Batt’s trainer and immediate superior, seemed disappointed that Batt hadn’t participated more in the beating, Batt testified.

“I told him that I had kicked Delphine twice,” Batt said. “He said, ‘Why only twice? Why did you stop?’ He said as a trainee I should be aggressive he had never seen a trainee hold back as much as I did.

“I was young and he was old and he would get tired quickly,” Batt testified. “He said I should keep hitting him until he told me to stop.”

Prosecutor David Hollister said Batt is the key witness in the case, and will be on the stand for two or three days. Batt resigned from the Oakland Police Department last summer, shortly after reporting the officers’ alleged activities and prompting an investigation against them.

Batt testified that Siapno repeatedly asked whether he was ready for the dark side.

“The dark side was illegal activity committed by police officers,” Batt explained. “Excessive use of force, lying on police reports, things of that nature.”

Batt said he did whatever Mabanag asked him to do, even when he had to lie, because Mabanag had the power to get him fired.

Batt testified that Vazquez told him, “If you’re a coward, I’ll terminate you. If you’re a snitch, I’ll beat you myself, and if you’re a criminal, I’ll arrest you and I’ll take you to jail myself.”

Batt said “The Riders” routinely beat suspects, concocted police reports filled with lies and he suspected they planted drugs on or near their suspects.

He testified that he once found drugs that a suspect had allegedly tossed when he saw police coming.

“I remember feeling uneasy about saying, ‘Frank (Vazquez), look what I found,’ because I suspected Frank already knew what I would find,” Batt said in court. “I felt like he was using me as a pawn in his game.”

Defense attorneys refused to comment on Batt’s credibility, but said they looked forward to his cross-examination, probably on Friday.